SERIAN: The General Operations Force (GOF) thwarted a human smuggling attempt by arresting a local agent (tekong) and six Indonesian illegal immigrants at Jalan Mongkos-Serian oil palm plantation on Saturday.
District police chief DSP Aswandy Anis said the arrest was made at 7.50am when the GOF team was carrying out ‘Ops Benteng Covid’ patrols near the Sarawak-Indonesia border.
The team noticed a four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicle in the area and stopped the vehicle for inspection.
“Inspections found a local man (driver) and five Indonesians inside the vehicle. Further examinations found that the foreigners had invalid passports.
“Not long after, a motorcyclist arrived at the scene and claimed to be the leader to the group of Indonesians. Inspections found that the individual also had an expired passport,” he said.
Aswandy said all the foreigners aged 21 to 46, were from Pontianak and Singkawang in Indonesia and believed to enter Sarawak illegally for work purposes.
The GOF team also seized the vehicle and motorcycle and brought the detainees to the police station for further actions.
He said the 29-year-old local agent would be remanded to facilitate investigations under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Atipom) Act 2007 and the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012.
The foreigners will be detained and investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63.
The police will continue to monitor such illegal activities and warned that stern actions will be taken against agents involved in such smuggling activities, Aswandy said.
