BBC News Online: World: Asia-Pacific

People-smuggling suspect arrested

Survivors were in the water for 30 hours

The man is accused of trying to smuggle illegal immigrants to Australia.

Immigration officials say he was arrested in the central city of Bandung, but he has been brought to the capital, Jakarta, along with several of the 44 survivors of the shipwreck, who have been summoned to identify the suspect.

The BBC Jakarta correspondent, Richard Galpin, says it is the first time the authorities have acted against a senior member of the people-smuggling rings.

He says they have operated with impunity up until now - in some cases buying off local police.

Lucrative trade

Most of the smugglers are believed to be foreigners from South Asia and the Middle East, working with Indonesian accomplices.

They charge the asylum seekers, mainly from Iraq and Afghanistan, thousands of dollars per person to transport them initially from Malaysia, where they congregate, to Indonesia and then Australia.

Overall, the trade is worth millions of dollars.

But the journey is extremely hazardous. The smugglers use boats which are too small and which are often in poor condition. Many ships sink without trace.

But, in last month's disaster there were some survivors, who were eventually brought back to Jakarta. They described what had happened and told the authorities who was behind the smuggling operation.