KOTA TINGGI: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) arrested four armed robbers on Tuesday after they raided an oil platform near Tanjung Langsat Port, here.
The men, aged between 27 and 47, had made their way to the Aurora Producer 1 oil platform on a fibreglass boat at 10.40pm on Monday. The platform is located 0.7 nautical miles northeast of the port's jetty.
The suspects, armed with parangs, had tied up and gagged the mouths of two crew members, aged 24 and 32, who were on duty before locking them up in a cabin.
They then proceeded to ransack the platform and took several equipment, cables and two mobile phones belonging to the victims.
However, one of the crew members managed to untie himself and alerted the MMEA emergency hotline.
The MMEA personnel arrived at the scene about two hours later and noticed four men acting suspiciously.
Acting MMEA director-general Vice-Admiral Datuk Saiful Lizan Ibrahim said upon hearing the blaring sirens from the approaching personnel, the robbers punctured their boat to sink it and clung onto the platform's pillars, in their attempt to hide from the officers.
"Their arms cramped up eventually and they fell into the sea. We just had to fish them out and arrest them to facilitate investigation under Section 391 of the Penal Code for gang robbery," Saiful Lizan said, at the MMEA Tanjung Sedili Maritime Zone, here today.
Total damages and losses from the raid have yet to be established. Apart from bruises to their wrists and ankles, the victims were unhurt.