PONTIAN: Five men, including four illegal immigrants, have been arrested by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) while trying to leave the country via an uncharted route near Tanjung Piai here.
Johor MMEA director First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria said that a patrol team noticed an unregistered boat at 8pm on Friday (Feb 2).
"The boat was located 1.6 nautical miles southwest of Tanjung Piai. It then sped off when the MMEA boat approached but was immediately stopped," he said.
"An inspection found four Indonesian men aged between 25 and 38, along with the 48-year-old boat skipper, a local," he said in a statement here on Saturday (Feb 3).
Investigations revealed that they were headed to Tanjung Balai, Indonesia.
The four Indonesian men are being investigated under Section 5(2) of the Immigration Act for entering the country illegally without valid travel documents.
The local man is being investigated under Section 26B(d) of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 for human trafficking.
