KUCHING, Dec 18: The army foiled an attempt by two local “Tekong Darat” to smuggle foreigners in and out of the country, during “Op Benteng” in Lubok Antu, yesterday.
First Infantry Division (1 Div) in a press statement today, said the arrest of the “Tekong Darat” together with the 10 Indonesian, took place at Ensawang palm oil plantation in Lubok Antu, which is about 300 meter from the Malaysia-Indonesia border.
“After seeing a motorcycle rider behaving suspiciously and believed to be surveying the area at 8.30 pm, the “Serkap” team then prepared for the possibility of illegal cross-border activities being attempted.
“Following that, at 11.15 pm, a sport utility vehicle (SUV) was stopped by the “Serkap” team, when trying to pass by the area, and found that a total of 10 Indonesian and two Malaysian were in the vehicle.
“Based on the result of the interrogation, six of them (Indonesian) intended to return to their country, while four others wanted to enter the country illegally. It is believed that the two Malaysian men were the “Tekong Darat”, who are responsible for bringing all of them,” it said.
The statement noted, among the item seized are 18 units of mobile phone, 47 boxes of various brands of cigarettes, 52 packets of Milo powder, a gold chain, three gold rings, a unit of walkies-talkie, medicines, snacks, makeup, clothing begs, cash totaling of RM4,746.65 and Rupiah 68,341 (RM12.71), a katana sword, and one unit of SUV, with the total value of RM87,674.36.
“All of the individuals, including the two Malaysian, were brought to Lubok Antu police station, and a swab test was also conducted on all of them by the Ministry of Health (MOH) personnel before their statements were taken by the police,” the statement added.
On the same note, 1 Div revealed that a total of five Indonesian were also arrested earlier on, at around 10 pm, near the Puspa Indah Restaurant in Tebedu, for trying to enter the country illegally, which is about 1.4 kilometers away from the Malaysia-Indonesia border.
“After interrogation, all of them admitted that they are from Entikong, and have crossed the border illegally using the “lorong tikus” to go to Miri for work.
“All of the individuals were found to have no identification documents, and were deported through the Malaysian-Indonesia border,” the statement added. –DayakDaily.
