For the second time in their continuing nationwide hunt for the Bali bombers, the police uncovered a cache of arms and ammunition in a house rented by the allegedly principal planner of the bombing, Imam Samudra.
The arms, found at Sukohardjo in Central Java, included eight American-made M-16 magazines and Russian 4 AK-47 magazines.
Amrozi, the first to be captured, led police to a cache in a forest in the Lamongan area of East Java, where police found M-16 automatic rifles and another American make, the AR15-A2, two British Lee Enfields and two Belgian-made pistols.
These discoveries by the police of heavy firepower raises the question of where these standard army issue weapons came from.
Checking who is supposed to have the guns should be a relatively easy task, given that they are likely to have come from the regional military command or other regiments, especially the the Strategic Reserve (Kostrad) and the Special Forces (Kopassus).
A source close to military circles told Laksamana.Net that the task of identifying the weapons is not proving because access is being denied by the military. The army has stated that the arms were stolen, a statement many analysts are reluctant to accept.
Some are more pragmatic, pointing to a long-standing arms trade out of the back door of government arms factory PT Pindad.
In February 2000, Jakarta police found vehicles carrying M-16 and AK-47 ammunition and weapons including FN pistols, SS-1 rifles and Mausers. The weapons were still packed in boxes labelled "Pindad". The shipment was on its way to the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
Then Jakarta Police Chief Nurfraizi, a close associate of then President Abdurrahman Wahid, snapped that the case would be settled thoroughly, no matter who the culprits might be. "We are now the reformed police, the police of the people," said Nurfaizi.
Events were to demonstrate otherwise. People familiar with the clandestine arms trade knew very well who Nurfaizi was referring to: the military is the only agent capable of transporting arms. PT Pindad sells only to the military – owning firearms is illegal in Indonesia – and a few less significant foreign clients.
Reports have it that some workers run their own arms business outside the factory. Turnover is big, say the sources.
Since the rioting and looting of May 1998, businessmen, company executives, and wealthy families have become a market for handguns. While some are no doubt smuggled into the country, some are also known to come from Pindad, usually via a military officer.
"With the proliferation of guns in the capital, it means crime and terror or violence will increase," says a sociologist who declined to be named, "This also raises the likelihood of political crimes, even assassination."
As far back as 2000, shots were fired at the central office of the United Development Party [PPP]. Nobody was reported hurt in the incident and police found no suspects or motive for the attack. Speculation spread at the time that the incident was a warning signal from Suharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, at the time facing serious corruption charges.
In the same year two men attacked Matori Abdul Djalil, chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), at his residence in a south Jakarta housing complex. One man hit Matori on the back of his head and on his right arm with a machete but police discovered not only the machete but also a FN-46 gun and two bullets.
Matori, co-chairman of the Peoples' Consultative Assembly (MPR) suffered only minor injury, but the presence of a gun established a new point in Indonesian politics.