Operation Peace Officer Cartenz arrested the District Head of kenyam district, Nduga Regency, Papua Mountains Province Indonesia with the initials MM aged 37 years on Monday May 01 2023

MM is suspected of being a donor of funds for the West Papua Armed Criminal Group led by Egianus Kogoya.

This information was conveyed by Head of Peace Operations Cartenz chief commissioner of police Faisal Ramadhani.

According to Faisal, MM has been detained since Monday (May/1/2023) on suspicion of giving 30 million rupiah to the West Papua Armed Criminal Group led by Egianus Kogoya to buy ammunition and weapons.

Faizal said that MM’s arrest was a development of the Yomce Lokbere case.

“The arrest of the Head of the Kenyam District with the initials MM was based on the results of an investigation by Yomse Lokbere who was arrested on April 12, 2023. Yomse was Egianus’ subordinate whose job was to buy ammunition and weapons for the group,” said Faisal.

MM has now been taken to Mimika, Central Papua to undergo further examination.

Based on data from the Papua Regional Police Force, the West Papua Armed Criminal Group led by Egianus Kogoya was involved in 65 criminal cases and killed 56 people.

This group acted from early December 2018 to April 2023, including taking hostage the pilot of the Susi Air plane, Captain Philips Marthen, from 7 February 2023.

The pilot, who is a New Zealand citizen, was allegedly held captive by the Egianus Kogoya group in the Nduga region which borders Lanny Jaya Regency.

Previously, the police had also arrested a village head named Terius Labie in the Kenyam District, Nduga Regency, Papua on August 4 2022 for allegedly financing the purchase of 615 rounds of ammunition for the Egianus Kogoya group worth IDR 150 million.

Separately, Professor of Sociology at Cenderawasih University Jayapura Avelinus Lefaan explained, in a sociological study, there were 2 motives related to the phenomenon of government officials allegedly helping the West Papua Armed Criminal Group Papua.

These two motives include strong kinship and ideological similarity with the group.

According to him, the communal lifestyle is one of the peculiarities of the people in the mountainous areas of Papua.

For example, all residents will be present at the moment another citizen dies, and will be commemorated as a cultural event.

Therefore, he hopes that the authorities will be observant in determining the motive behind the alleged case of the district head providing funds to West Papua Armed Criminal GroupB.

“This is because giving money can be interpreted as helping relatives who are experiencing difficulties or having a sense of solidarity because of the same political views,” said Avelinus.