East Timor customs seizes ammunition from Australian cargo

06/16/2000 Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Dili, East Timor (dpa) - East Timorese customs and border control officials have impounded a cargo shipment from Australia at Dili port after finding 200 rounds of rifle ammunition, a U.N. spokesmwoman said Friday.

The spokesmwoman said an investigation was underway into the source of the cargo after 100 rounds of . 270-calibre and 100 of .22-calibre soft-nose ammunition were found concealed in boxes among a shipment of sugar and flour.

No other details were given, however. Neither calibre was considered to be of military origin.

The United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET) remains extremely concerned at any attempt to import weapons or ammunition into the territory and in recent months has seized several grenades and bayonets from refugees returning from Indonesian West Timor .

Last week, border control officers stopped two lorries crossing into East Timor from West Timor after they were found to be carrying two separate cargo manifests with conflicting accounts of the value of goods being transported.

A provisional tax and customs service for East Timor was set up on March 8 covering imports, exports and locally manufactured goods such as coffee.

More than 1 million dollars in taxes and duties have been assessed since the introduction of fees with revenues to be used in offsetting the massive cost of rebuilding East Timor 's infrastructure after last year's devastating militia violence.

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