PETALING JAYA, July 6 — Marine police, who have been on surveillance for the Hari Raya “exodus” in the Straits of Malacca for over a week, picked up 59 illegal immigrants in a fishing boat heading to Tanjung Balai Asahan, Indonesia, on Saturday morning.
Port Klang Marine Police commanding office DSP Ahmad Shafiki Hussin said they were alerted by undercover officers at 9pm on Friday.
“An RH17 vessel with five officers onboard was deployed to sea two nautical miles from Tanjung Sauh in Sabak Bernam,” he said.
It spotted the Class ‘A’ fishing boat at 1.30am.
“When we went closer and boarded the fishing vessel, we found 47 male and 12 female Indonesian nationals, who were heading for Tanjung Balai Asahan,” he said.
He said police believed they were returning to their home town for Hari Raya.
“It is normal for illegal immigrants to return home two weeks before the holidays, and we usually increase our monitoring and surveillance in the waters off Port Klang during the period,” he said.
Ahmad Shafiki also said people smugglers had identified Port Klang to be “unsafe” because of the high presence of authorities there.
“They have shifted to the northern waters off Port Klang to exit Malaysia and we have increased our patrols, covering Kuala Selangor to Kuala Sepang,” he said.
The boat captain and his two-man crew, from Tanjung Balai Asahan, were also picked up.
Ahmad Shafiki said that of the 59 detained, 33 men and seven women had overstayed their visas.
“Fourteen men and five women failed to produce any identification documents,” he said.
The 59 would be handed over to the Immigration Department.
“We are looking into the matter seriously, especially those disguised as fishing boats but ferrying people,” he said.
“We want to eradicate such activities.”
