PONTIAN: The state Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) arrested nine people for allegedly smuggling migrants into Johor waters in a boat 7.3 nautical miles northeast off Pulau Pisang near here yesterday.
Eight of them are Indonesians, including a woman, while the other is a Malaysian man, who is suspected to be their "tekong darat" (land guide). They are all allegedly part of a human smuggling syndicate.
Johor MMEA acting director Captain Kama Azri Kamil said a suspicious boat was detected at 8.10am, and it fled to shallow waters near the Sungai Sanglang estuary when it was spotted approaching an MMEA patrol boat.
"We alerted our ground team. The Malaysian was caught red-landed guiding the Indonesians on land," he said in a statement today.
The eight Indonesians, aged between 24 and 60, were apprehended to facilitate under investigations Section 5(2) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for illegal entry into the country via unauthorised routes.
The Malaysian, 48, was held under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007.
MMEA also seized a fibreglass boat and a land vehicle, believed used to transport the illegal migrants.