Cargo Cult Arrested For Sorcery

Police in Papua New Guinea have arrested 320 people for practicing sorcery and religious cults, the National newspaper reported Thursday.

Belief in sorcery is widespread in this jungle-clad, mountainous South Pacific island nation where some villages only encountered Western civilization in the 1930s.

Police raided three villages Monday near the city of Lae on the north coast and arrested leaders of a “cargo cult” and their followers, the newspaper said. (…)

Cargo cults believe that manufactured goods are created by ancestral spirits, and although intended for themselves, have somehow fallen into the hands of Westerners. They have been known to conduct rituals similar to observed Western behavior – such as building airstrips, airports, and radios made from coconuts and straw – in the belief that planes would land with cargo.

LINK [article] (Reuters) LINK [more information on cargo cults] (Wikipedia)