SERIAN: Police thwarted an attempt by two locals to smuggle three illegal immigrants into Sarawak on Thursday.
The incident happened around 11am when a team carrying out ‘Ops Benteng’ at Jalan Serian-Tebedu spotted a suspicious vehicle.
Serian OCPD DSP Aswandy Anis revealed that police then followed the vehicle to the Serian Recreational Park before blocking it for inspection.
“This led to the discovery of two locals — a 36-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman — believed to be tekong (agents) and three Indonesian men inside the vehicle.
“All three immigrants aged between 26 and 51, did not have any valid travel documents on them.
“They entered Sarawak via an illegal route (jalan tikus) for work purposes in Sibu,” he said, adding that the trio were detained under the Immigration Act 1959/63.
Apart from that, police also found a plastic packet containing crystalline lumps believed to be syabu.
Aswandy noted that the two locals tested positive for methamphetamine abuse.
“For the smuggling offence, the locals are detained under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Migrant Smuggling (Atipsom) Act 2007 and are remanded under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) 2012 to facilitate investigation.
“For the drug offence, they will also be investigated under Section 12(3) and Section 15(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.”
