KLANG: Selangor Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) foils attempts to smuggle illegal migrants into the state’s waters and detains two boats during a special operation in the early hours of Monday (Jan 26).
Its director, Maritime Captain Abdul Muhaimin Muhammad Salleh, said the first seizure involved a fibreglass boat without a registration number, detained at about 12.30am, roughly 1.5 nautical miles southwest of Bagan Nakhoda Omar.
“Upon inspection, the boat was operated by a 36-year-old Myanmar skipper. There were 26 Indonesian illegal migrants on board, comprising 17 men, including a child, and nine women aged between five and 53,” he said.
He added that two local men, aged 46 and 49, were also on board and are believed to have attempted to enter and exit the country via illegal routes.
The second seizure, made at around 2am, involved a pom-pom boat about two nautical miles southwest of the same area.
“The boat was operated by a skipper and two Indonesian crew members aged 22 and 32,” he said.
“Further inspection found 24 illegal migrants, comprising 19 men and five women aged 22 to 64, and a three-month-old baby girl,” he added.
Abdul Muhaimin said the arrests followed intelligence on human smuggling activities around the Bagan Nakhoda Omar area.
He added that all detained migrants failed to produce valid identification documents.
“These cases are being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63 for entering and leaving the country via non-gazetted routes, and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (ATIPSOM) for attempting to smuggle migrants,” he said.
All individuals and boats were escorted to the Marine Police Force jetty at Pulau Indah for further action.
Abdul Muhaimin stressed that MMEA would not compromise on cross-border crimes and would continue to intensify enforcement operations in national waters.
“Members of the public are urged to report any criminal activity at sea to the Selangor Maritime Operations Centre at 013-660 6652 or the emergency hotline 999 for immediate action,” he said.
