TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Adj. Sr. Comr. Herry Heryawan, chief of Violent Crime Sub-directorate of the Jakarta Police, said the area of Cipacing in West Java had transformed into a hub of both manufactured and home-made firearms.
He said the police also discovered Cipacing had produced AK-47 assault rifles and a variety of live bullets. “Then these weapons got into the hands of terrorists,” Herry said at Hotel Puri Khatulistiwa in Sumedang, West Java, on Monday, August 26, 2013.
Personnel from the Jakarta Police’s Violent Crime Sub-directorate have recently launched yet another raid on the illegal, home-made firearms industry area of Cipacing in Sumedang, West Java. A similar raid on Cipacing took place a year ago.
The police raided the area following the arrest of suspected terrorist Iqbal Khusaeni, 32, alias Ramli, alias Rambo, alias Iboy in Cipayung, East Jakarta on Wednesday, August 21, 2013.
Herry said Ramli admitted purchasing two pieces of home-made FN guns from Cipacing in January 2010. He later sold the guns to two persons in Bekasi at the price of Rp10 million apiece.
“They used the guns for combat trainings,” Herry said, adding that Ramli bought another gun on the same day for dead suspected terrorist Arhan.
In February 2011, Ramli bought two guns at the order of other suspected terrorists at the price of Rp8 million apiece. In November 2011, Ramli bought three FNs in Cipacing for someone in Ambon.
In March 2012, he again bought 2 FNs in Cipacing and another in January and April 2013. In August 2013, the police seized two airsoft guns that had been modified into 32-caliber Walther and 32-caliber Makarov guns at Ramli’s residence.
Herry said Ramli was capable of modifying airsoft guns into a variety of firearms. “So don’t underestimate the circulation of airsoft guns in the nation. Because, in the hands of skilled terrorists, they can be modified into firearms. This is one of the terrorists’ strategies to conceal their firearms.”
MUHAMMAD MUHYIDDIN