KOTA KINABALU: An attempt by a group of undocumented migrants to land on the popular tourist site of Simpang Mengayau, or Tip of Borneo, in Sabah's northern Kudat district has been foiled by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).
The group was attempting to sneak in under the cloak of darkness on a wooden pump boat from the Mangsee Islands, Palawan in the Philippines on Tuesday (Aug 1).
The group, which included a woman, was sighted by security personnel patrolling the country's borders at about 9.30pm.
Kudat MMEA director Commander Maurice Grenville Abeyeratne said their assets scouring northern waters under Ops Sejahtera were immediately deployed to the location.
"At 10pm, our men spotted a pump boat moving in the dark towards Simpang Mengayau, some 0.7 nautical miles northwest of Kalampunian Island, Kudat," he said here on Thursday (Aug 3).
"We immediately intercepted the boat and following an inspection, found that there were nine people, including the boat operator, aged between 11 and 59 on it.
"No one had valid identification documents," he said, adding the case would be investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act for failing to produce legitimate travel papers.
In an unrelated case earlier the same day, Abeyeratne said the MMEA also stopped a fishing boat carrying some 170kg of live fish without the necessary permit.
Acting on a tip-off, he said, the Kudat MMEA detected the boat 3.05 nautical miles northeast of Tanjung Agong-Agong.
"The boat was operated by two Filipinos. Upon further checking, we found they were transporting various types of live fish weighing about 170kg without a valid permit.
"We arrested the duo and seized their boat and items on it," he said, adding the case would be investigated under the Fisheries Act 1985.
Abeyeratne also urged the people, especially those living is coastal areas, to assist the MMEA by reporting any misconduct or criminal activity that occurs at sea to the Kudat MMEA operations centre at 088-611 858 or the Malaysian Emergency Rescue Services (MERS) 999 number.
