By FRANCO NEBAS
A SUBSTANTIAL amount of gun powder, live bullets, firearms and accessories were seized by the National Criminal Intelligence Unit (NCIU) of Lae police and Border Security officers in Lae recently.
The weapons and gun powder were confiscated following a police intelligence report of alleged gun smuggling into the country, and especially through the Lae port.
On Tuesday this week, police arrested an Indonesian man and charged him with four counts of unlawfully dealings in firearms and one count for having live ammunition in his possession when he did not have a gun dealer’s license, which is contrary to the Firearms Act.
Police also arrested an expatriate man and charged him with being in possession of two pistols, two high powered guns and live ammunitions (9mm magazines).
The expatriate man was released on a police bail of K5, 000 and will appear in court today.
The gun powder, live bullets, firearm parts and assesories were confiscated after police and Border Security officers intercepted four pistols and 19 magazines.
The pistols and the 19 magazines were found inside a container belonging to Lae Biscuit Company, according to police.
Border Security officers then stopped all containers addressed to Lae Biscuit from leaving the port area until they were all thoroughly checked and cleared.
Six of the containers - two from Australia and four from Singapore - were identified and are now under 24-hour surveillance.
Two containers were checked and an undisclosed amount of ammunition was found.
These shipments were identified as being for Lae Biscuit and were shipped from Australia.
Border Security personnel and Police Criminal Intelligence Unit officers inspected one container and found gun powder and live ammunition, night vision binoculars and a pistol barrel.
Meanwhile police have issued a strong warning to business houses in Lae and people purchasing what police have described as STI pistols to surrender the weapons to police.
The STI pistols, among those found together with the other contraband, were imported illegally into the country.
The police said this particular pistols must be surrendered immediately and any person caught being in possession of these weapons will be
arrested, charged and prosecuted.
“Two people have already been arrested and charged and are now out on bail.
“We expect to make more arrests as we believe there is a syndicate or a Mafia group operating in Lae and throughout the country that may be behind these illegal imports,” a police officer who did not want to be identified told the Post Courier.
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