KOTA KINABALU, April 22 — The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has arrested five Filipinos for fishing near two oil rigs in Sabah waters here.

Sabah and Labuan MMEA director, Maritime First Admiral Mohd Rosli Abdullah, said the suspects were arrested in special operations conducted at the Erb West and Kebabangan oil platform areas at 11.30am and late on Monday night.

They were in five fishing boats which were intercepted by MMEA personnel enforcing the movement control order (MCO) and conducting patrols against intrusion into the oil rig areas, he said in a statement here today.

Mohd Rosli said one of the Filipinos had an IMM13 card for immigrants with refugee status while the rest did not have any personal identification documents.

He said the fishing boats and the suspects had been taken to the Sepanggar Maritime Jetty for further action.

Mohd Rosli warned local boat operators of legal action if they were caught hiring any immigrants without identification documents. — Bernama