Illegal fishing: 8 foreign fishermen held in Labuan
Published on: Friday, April 19, 2019
LABUAN: Labuan marine police and fisheries enforcement officials nabbed five Vietnamese and three Indonesian fishermen for illegal fishing, with a total seizure of RM336,600, in separate operations on Wednesday morning.The arrests and seizure were made during an integration operation dubbed as “Op Gelora Khas” with the Labuan Fisheries Department.
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Marine Police Region 4 (Sabah) Commander Assistant Commissioner Mohamad Pajeri Ali said the first arrest was on Vietnamese fishermen who were found to have carried out illegal fishing activity at 9am in the Malaysian waters off the emerging dive site of Vernon Bank.
“We seized their wooden boat with engine and fishing equipment worth RM133,800 and no marine catch at the time of the arrest,” he said, Thursday.
The second arrest was on the Indonesian nationals on a trawler, aged between 25 and 38, who were caught fishing using nets below 38mm, which is an offence under Section 26(b) of the Fisheries Act 1985.
“The Marine and Fisheries Department were on “Op Gelora Khas” when our teams found them fishing illegally about 7.4 nautical miles off Tanjung Punai near University Malaysia Sabah Labuan waters at 6.50am,” he said.
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Pajeri said the catch totalling 150kg, the trawler with the engine and fishing equipment, all worth RM202,800, were seized.
The cases are being investigated under Section 15(1)(a) and Section 26(b) of the Fisheries Act 1985, respectively.
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Meanwhile, in KOTA KINABALU, police have arrested two teenagers in connection with a gang assault at a popular shopping centre here on Sunday (April 14).
The two boys are believed to be among six suspects who were caught on video, beating up two local men at about 4pm.
The video has since gone viral on social media, with netizens condemning the assault and calling for the arrests of the suspects.
Acting City Police Chief Supt George Rakman said two suspects, aged 18 and 19, were picked up at Inanam, near here, around 11pm on Tuesday (April 16) to facilitate investigations.
“We thank those who came forward with information on the case, which led to the arrests.
“We are still tracking down four more suspects,” he added.
Supt George said anyone with information on the case can contact their nearest police station, or reach out to Investigating Officer Insp Nur Shajida Shara at 012-8119794.
The case is investigated under Section 147 of the Penal Code for rioting.
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