Jakarta, Indonesia ? The alleged mastermind of last month’s deadly nightclub bombings in Bali has confessed to planning and executing the attack that killed nearly 200 people, a top investigator said today.

“He has already confessed,” said Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika, who is heading the investigation.

Police arrested Imam Samudra late Thursday on a bus in the port of Merak on Indonesia’s main island of Java as he tried to reach a ferry bound for the western island of Sumatra.

It was the biggest breakthrough of the investigation into the Oct. 12 blasts. Authorities say they are confident that his remaining accomplices will be captured soon.

Samudra, 35, is reportedly a leading member of Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaida-linked group seeking to impose an Islamic state in Southeast Asia.

Earlier today, national police chief Gen. Da’i Bachtiar and a team of detectives flew by helicopter from Merak to arrange for the suspect’s transfer to Jakarta.

Police say the 35-year-old Samudra planned the attack and helped assemble the bombs that blew up outside the Sari Club and in Paddy’s bar. At least 190 people were killed.

Samudra also is believed to also be responsible for a series of church bombings in 2000 in Indonesia.