REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KARIMUN -- Customs authorities in Riau Islands province have foiled an attempt to smuggle 1,377 sacks of explosives, worth Rp5.1 billion, from Malaysia to Kalimantan. The explosives, in the form of ammonium nitrate, were carried by MV Sinar Jaya Indah-088.
"The Indonesia-flagged vessel, along with its crew members, was caught by a patrol boat BC-20004 in the waters of Pengibu island on Tuesday (Feb 13) at around 10.30 a.m. local time," the spokesman for the regional office of the customs directorate general in Riau Islands province, Refly Feller Silalahi, stated in a press statement released on Thursday.
He noted that the patrol boat BC 20004 intercepted the 22 gross tonnage MV Sinar Indah Jaya-08 after receiving information on the vessel carrying explosives on Tuesday morning at 08.30 a.m., Silalahi remarked.
The patrol boat immediately spied on and intercepted the vessel in the waters of Pengibu Island.
Based on the results of a check conducted on 1,377 sacks of ammonium nitrate, each of the sacks weighed 24 kilograms. Overall, the ammonium nitrate weighed 30 tons.
According to the market price, the value of ammonium nitrate was estimated at Rp5.164 billion, he revealed.
The skipper of the vessel, identified by his initial as Y, has been named a suspect in the case.
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