JAKARTA: Police have arrested two university students over suspicions of attempting to smuggle 18 Myanmar nationals to Malaysia by speedboat from Dumai, Riau, without proper immigration documents.
Riau Police chief spokesman Sr Comr Zahwani Pandya Arsyad said on Feb 14 that the alleged human trafficking attempt was uncovered thanks to a tip from the public received on Feb 9 via the National Police call centre 110.
The caller reported that a group of foreigners were spotted at an illegal seaport in Dumai. “At around 1am, a police patrol team [aboard] KM Kedidi followed up the report by setting up surveillance around Jl. Purwo Salim and Jl. Penyembal in Tanjung Penyembal subdistrict, Sungai Sembiland district,” Zahwani said.
During the stakeout, members of the Riau Police’s Marine and Air Police (Polairud) unit intercepted two cars, a white Honda BR-V driven by suspect Muhammad Alfa Reza and a gray Toyota Avanza driven by Fahri Adriansyah. Inside each car were nine foreign nationals allegedly intending to cross illegally into Malaysia by speedboat.
“Both suspects are from Kampar regency, Riau, and are university students,” Zahwani added.
“They confessed that they were instructed by an agent to take out rental cars, pick up the foreigners in Pekanbaru and drive them to a designated point in Dumai for their departure to Malaysia,” he said, adding that the unnamed “agent” was on the run.
Fahri was allegedly paid Rp 1.5 million (US$90) and Reza Rp 1.2 million to transport the group. Upon their arrest, the pair were found to be carrying Rp 850,000 and Rp 550,000, respectively, according to Zahwani.
“Their motive was simply an economic one, to benefit financially,” he said.
“However, their action is a serious crime that endangers national sovereignty.”
The police also confiscated two smartphones, an iPhone 11 and a Redmi Note 14. The suspects are being charged under Article 120m clause 2 of Law No. 6/2011 on immigration and Article 457 of the Criminal Code (KUHP).
“This is a human trafficking [case]. The punishment is heavy, a prison term between five and 15 years,” Zahwani said.
“The offence is also punishable by a fine ranging from category V to VII in line with the new KUHP,” he said, which is set at Rp 500 million, Rp 2 billion and Rp 5 billion, respectively.
The 18 Myanmar nationals have been handed over the Immigration Office for further processing such as registration and coordination with relevant authorities, including their embassy.
Riau marine air corps director Sr Comr Apri Fajar Hermanto said the group was believed to have travelled by sea for around 40 days via Aceh to reach Pekanbaru, where they stayed at a house for five days before they were transported to Dumai.
Apri said each member of the group paid dozens of millions of rupiah for the trip.
“We will keep investigating to uncover a possible [human trafficking] network or other suspects in this case,” he added.
“This is part of the preventive and deterrent measures to curb human trafficking in Riau waters,” Apri said.
He credited the success of the foiled smuggling attempt to synergy between the Riau Police and the National Police, including support from the national marine police corps under the Security Maintenance Agency (Baharkam).
“Information from the public is also helpful. We will follow up every information from the public,” he added.
Riau is vulnerable to human trafficking activities that use illegal ports, as the province is located along Indonesia’s maritime boundaries with several countries, including Malaysia. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
