TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar asserted that Sudan's accusation of firearm smuggling allegedly attempted by Formed Police Unit (FPU) 8, the National Police's taskforce for United Nation's peacekeeping mission, was questionable.
"It's peculiar how the guns were already at the airport," Boy said at the Police Higher Education College (PTIK) in Jakarta on Thursday, January 26, 2017.
Boy explained that the FPU personnel was supposed to be back home two days ago since they had completed their tasks. Boy added that every item carried by the FPU personnel must have been screened by metal detectors at the airport. Boy alleged that the guns had already been placed at the airport and mixed with FPU personnel’s belongings.
"We need to know the motive behind this," Boy said.
Boy claimed that the FPU's performance had been deemed exemplary for being capable of adapting and working with others.
Boy said that the National Police had worked with the UN, Sudanese authorities, and the Indonesian Embassy in Sudan to conduct a full investigation into the case.
The United Nations African Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) was rolled out in 2007 aiming at stopping violence occurred in west Sudan. UNAMID is the second largest peacekeeping mission with a budget of US$1.35 billion and 2,000 personnel.
Police personnel who joined the peacekeeping mission were arrested on January 20, 2017, when they were about to leave Al Fashir Airport in Darfur. Sudanese authorities seized dozens of guns from the luggage allegedly owned by the personnel.
DANANG FIRMANTO