SANDAKAN: Some 400 litres of subsidised petrol in 20 barrels were seized by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), here, on Sunday (Dec 24).
The barrels were thrown into the sea from two fishing boats suspected of being smugglers during a chase.
Sandakan MMEA Maritime Zone Director, Captain Zainuddin Mohd Zuki, said a patrol craft spotted two suspicious fishing boats at 1.6 nautical miles north of Bai Island at 3.10pm.
He said the boats were instructed to stop but instead they sped off and simultaneously discarded 20 barrels into the sea.
“The boats then navigated towards shallow and rocky waters in an attempt to evade pursuit by the enforcement boat,” he said.
All the confiscated items were brought to the Maritime Zone Jetty and handed over to the investigating officer.
The case is being investigated under the Supply Control Act of 1961.
In a separate case, the MMEA detained a local fishing boat near Kampung Sim-Sim suspected of violating the Sabah Ports and Docks Enactment of 2002 by carrying 45 passengers without a permission on the same day.
In another success, the MMEA rescued two fishermen after their boat was hit by waves and sank near the Sandakan Maritime Jetty on Dec 23.
The two local victims, Roslee Awang, 43, and his friend Fadzier Salleh, 36, were discovered without life jackets when the boat capsized and sank due to the large waves and strong currents.
