TAWAU: Eight illegal immigrants believed to be carrying out seaweed cultivating activities off Sebatik Island waters were arrested by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Tawau Maritime Zone, late Thursday afternoon.
Tawau Maritime Zone Director, Maritime Captain Shahrizan Raman, said they are all believed to be Indonesians, including the two owners and their workers who are estimated to be aged between 18 and 41.
According to him, the suspects were detained by Malaysian Maritime patrol boats which were conducting “Ops Pluto Timur 2/13”, “Ops Sejahtera 1/22” and “Ops Tiris”.
“The patrol team detected two ‘jongkong’ (boats) believed to be used for seaweed picking activities in the waters in question. An inspection found that the boats in question were each operated by a skipper with three workers,” he said.
Shahrizan said all the suspects were taken to the Tawau Maritime Zone Jetty for inspection and further investigation under the Immigration Act 1959/63 as they did not have valid travel documents.
According to him, both boats, boat engines and personal belongings worth more than RM50,000.were confiscated.
He said MMEA would continue to strengthen enforcement duties to combat illegal activities in the Malaysian Maritime Zone, particularly in the waters off Eastern Sabah (Esszone) in collaboration with other enforcement agencies.
He urged the maritime community to help the agency by tipping off any criminal misconduct that occurs around Tawau waters to the Tawau Maritime Zone Operations Centre line at 089-752116 or the MERS emergency line 999.
