Heavily-armed gunmen rob four of boat engines near Lahad Datu

KOTA KINABALU: Four heavily armed gunmen clad in army fatigues were involved in a robbery in the waters off Tanjung Labian some 135km from Sabah’s east coast town of Lahad Datu.

It is understood that the suspected pirates, who were believed to have been armed with at least three M16 rifles, robbed four men of their three outboard engines – two 15 horse-power engines and one pump boat engine – close to Sungai Bilis at about 11pm on Sunday.