Indonesia Detains Boat in Bali, Seizes Cargo of Fertilizer

Indonesian authorities said Thursday they had detained a ship in Bali and seized its unauthorized cargo of about 30 tons of fertilizer that could be used to make explosives.

The cargo of ammonium nitrate – the same material used in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people – likely was intended for use as bombs for fishing, authorities said according to international news reports.  While illegal in Indonesia, fishing bombs are used to stun or kill schools of fish to make harvesting easier.

“I can only say that some of the usage of this ammonium nitrate is to make homemade fish bombs, so far there is no link to terrorism,” National Police Criminal Investigation Department Brig. Gen. Agung Setya told reporters in Bali.

Bali Police Chief Sugeng Priyanto supported Agung’s claim.

“For the use of terror acts, so far there is no indication,” he told BenarNews in a telephone interview.

Another Bali police official, Hendra Suhartiyono, took a different position, pointing out that the shipment of fertilizer was to be delivered to Sulawesi. The island is the home of militant group Eastern Indonesia Mujahideen that was led by Santoso, Indonesia’s most wanted man, until he was killed in a shootout with security forces in July.

MIT’s membership, however, has dwindled to only a dozen members at large. Last week, police in Central Sulawesi province, announced the arrest of Muhammad Basri, who is suspected of serving as Santoso’s deputy and who took over the MIT after the top leader’s demise.

“We are not closed to the possibility that this chemical material ... could also be for the benefit of terrorist groups in Sulawesi to make low-impact and high-impact bombs,” Hendra told Reuters.

Routine patrol

On Tuesday, customs boats on routine patrol stopped the boat carrying thousands of sacks of ammonium nitrate in Buleleng, North Bali, according to news.com.au. Officials claimed that the crew did not have official paperwork required for hauling the load in Indonesian waters.

The wooden boat was escorted to Padang Bai Port in Karangasem, eastern Bali, where the six crew members were being interrogated by police and customs officers on Thursday.

The crew members could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of violating Indonesia’s customs law for hauling the load without documentation, Husni Saiful, chief of customs in Bali, told reporters.

In addition, an Indonesian fishery law declares that any person who deliberately possesses, controls, carries, and/or uses fishing tools (in this case a homemade bomb) that can disrupt and destroy the sustainability of the fisheries resource, on board a fishing vessel can face five years in prison and be fined as much as 2 billion rupiahs (U.S. $153,000).

The ship sailed from Pasir Gudang in Malaysia for Selayar Island in Sulawesi, Husni told news.com.au. He said the crew dumped some of the chemicals into the ocean because the boat was leaking.

Agung said police have investigated three cases since April where officers suspected that fertilizer was to be used to make fishing bombs, according to the Associated Press. Two women were killed last year in an explosion at a housing complex in South Sulawesi where police said fishing bombs were being made, Indonesian media reported.