4 hours ago
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March 13, 2025 | 01:13 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chief of Operations for the Cartenz Peace Brigade Task Force, Brigadier General Faizal Ramadhani, revealed the origin of the weapons used by the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM).
Faizal stated that most of the confiscated weapons from the illegal arms trade in Papua came from South Mindanao, Philippines. Faizal said these firearms were illegally traded to the TPNPB-OPM. "Revelations over the past four years have been dominated by weapons originating from South Mindanao," Faizal said in a press release on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.
However, Faizal did not deny that there were also weapons circulating involving security forces. He did not provide detailed information on the number of weapons and ammunition smuggled by these forces.
Faizal stated that the police always take action against any security forces involved in the arms trade for the TPNPB-OPM. "So far, if there is anyone selling, it is purely individual and all are processed legally," he said.
The disclosure of illegal arms trading in Papua has been intensified since 2020. In the past four years, the Cartenz Peace Brigade Task Force has confiscated 77 firearms and thousands of pieces of ammunition that were to be smuggled.
In 2020, 16 firearms and 198 rounds of ammunition were confiscated. Then in 2021, the team only seized 22 rounds of ammunition. A year later, there were two firearms and 803 rounds of ammunition seized. "A significant number in 2023, with 32 firearms and 1282 ammunition. This occurred often during enforcement operations for pilot release, and the results were quite significant," Faizal said.
Throughout 2024, the Cartenz Peace Brigade Task Force seized 12 firearms and 788 rounds of ammunition intended for the TPNPB-OPM. Then at the beginning of 2025, they seized 17 firearms and 3,745 rounds of ammunition.
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