PONTIAN: Nine Indonesian men were arrested near Sungai Buntu here for attempting to enter Malaysia illegally via the sea.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency Batu Pahat zone director Maritime Commander Mohd Haniff Mohd Yunus said the group’s attempt was foiled at around 4.30am on Thursday (Feb 2).
“We received a tip-off from a member of the public who noticed a boat circling in the water so we deployed a team to the location at around 3.30am.
“When the team arrived at the scene, the boat was nowhere to be found.
“Further inspection of the area found the foreigners hiding in a muddy area some 290m southwest of Sungai Buntu,” he said in a statement.
He added that the nine men, aged 35 to 67, failed to produce valid identification documents and were brought to the Batu Pahat maritime zone office for further investigations under the Immigration Act 1959/63.
He also urged the public to continue assisting MMEA in curbing illegal maritime activities by calling the state maritime operations centre at 07-2199401.
