KUDAT: Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) foiled an attempt by a group of illegal immigrants from entering the country illegally, here, Monday.
Kudat Maritime Zone Director Maurice Grenville Abeyeratne said inspection found two fishing boats carrying a total of 43 people, including women and children, between the ages of two and 55.
Maurice said out of that total, 35 individuals are suspected to be Filipinos with dubious identification documents while the remaining eight are local citizens.
He said the first boat was detained 7.6 nautical miles from Tanjung Simpang Mangayau, while the second boat was detained 6.6 nautical miles from Pulau Kalutan, Balambangan.
“These two boats were suspected of travelling from Tawi-Tawi Island to Kota Kinabalu,” Maurice said.
The case is currently under investigation under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Migrant Smuggling Act (ATIPSOM) 2007, the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Sabah Ports and Docks Enactment 2002.
Maurice said due to intelligence information obtained and detection assistance from the Sabah MMEA Sea Surveillance System (SWASLA), two patrol boats from Kudat Maritime Zone detected the two fishing boats.
MMEA urges the community, especially the maritime community in Kudat, to assist by reporting any misconduct or criminal activity at sea. Reports can be made to Maritime Malaysia at 088-611858 (Kudat Operations Center) and MERS 999.
