Awash in Illegal Arms

Hundreds of military-issue weapons are still unaccounted for despite repeated raids on illegal arms in Maluku.

November 18, 2003

POLICE in Maluku have a new way of collecting illegal weapons: through a reward system.Two weeks ago a taxi driver in Ambon was presented with Rp1 million in cash for delivering 27 homemade bombs to the local police. Each bomb, consisting of a 15-centimeter-long pipe fitted at one end with a fuse, was wrapped in a green cloth. If we didnt give him a gift we would look unappreciative of what he had done. In fact, hes abandoned his job to deliver b

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