Explosive find: 300 fish bomb detonators discovered after duo abandon boat in Kudat

The items seized in the boat.

KOTA KINABALU: Two fish bombers managed to get away from enforcement authorities by jumping into the sea in Sabah's northern Kudat district.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) personnel then found hundreds of detonators as well as rolls of cables, believed to be used for blast fishing, in the boat the suspects abandoned.

Kudat MMEA director Maritime Commander Maurice Grenville Abeyeratne said they deployed a patrol boat following a tip-off.

He said they managed to locate the vessel near Pulau Lingkutan at 7.55am on Wednesday (Oct 12).

He added the two people on the boat fled towards the shoreline on noticing the MMEA's presence.

"The suspects were later seen jumping into the sea to escape after their boat got stuck in shallow waters," he said in a statement on Thursday (Oct 13).

"An inspection on the boat found some 300 detonators and three rolls of cables we believe were intended for fish-bombing activities," Abeyeratne added.

He said the items and the boat were taken to the Kudat Marina jetty for the MMEA's next course of action, adding that the seized items were valued at RM17,000.

He added that investigations were underway framed under the Fisheries Act 1985.

He urged those with information pertaining to the incident or other maritime offences to contact the Kudat MMEA operations centre at 088-611 858.