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| Southeast Asia |
| Bali-style blasting caps seized |
| 2006-05-24 |
| POLICE have arrested a man caught manufacturing blasting caps similar to the ones used in the Rizal Day bombings that killed 22 people and wounded 120 others in various parts of Metro Manila in 2000, and in the terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 189 people in the Indonesian island resort of Bali two years later. The National Bureau of Investigation identified the alleged explosives manufacturer as Rodolfo Arahan, whom it presented to the media yesterday, four days after his arrest during a raid on his house and shop in the village of Hulugan, Tanza, Cavite, last Friday. “We are now determining his possible linkage to the Jemaah Islamiyah because the blasting caps he made were identical to those used in the Rizal Day and Bali bombings,” NBI acting Director Nestor Mantaring told reporters. Seized from the 45-year-old suspect, who claimed he manufactured blasting caps for dynamite fishing only, were big plastic bags of highly explosive TNT, potassium nitrate, picric acid, pentaerythritol tetranitrate and low explosive black powder along with 37 blasting caps, 247 blasting cap casings, 23 time fuses, metal sheet cutters and molding machines, officials said. “All these chemicals combined are enough to destroy a quarter of the whole NBI headquarters,” said Romeo Cotingjo, an NBI explosives expert. Two weeks ago, NBI detectives posing as buyers obtained from Arahan a bottle of ammonium nitrate mixed with kerosene that is often used in blast fishing, the officials said. Carlo Valdez, chief of the NBI’s Anti-Terrorism Division, said they had received information that Arahan “sells his products to clients in Basilan and Jolo,” known lairs of the Abu Sayyaf Group that is linked to the Southeast Asian terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah. Vasquez said the NBI was coordinating with the Australian Federal Police to determine the similarities between the substances used in the Bali bombing and those seized in the Cavite raid. Arahan denied the accusations, saying that “Visayan friends” gave him the explosives materials. The NBI said charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives have been filed against Arahan. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 Blast Fishing - when you sick of cutting bait. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-05-24 11:34 |
| #2 I'll wager the number of people who can build reliable blasting caps at home is exceedingly low. This should put a dent in their operation. Nice catch. |
| Posted by: Steve 2006-05-24 10:00 |
| #1 You do not want to mess with picric acid if you don't know what your are doing, especially if you get next to certain metals. Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) is one of the most powerful explosives known. This guy had one nasty perloo in his shop. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-05-24 09:33 |