KUCHING, Oct 19: The General Operations Force (GOF) Sarawak Brigade arrested a local man for attempting to bribe his way out after being caught transporting three individuals believed to be illegal immigrants during “Ops Benteng Covid” in Lundu yesterday.
GOF Commander SAC Mancha Ata, in a statement, said the man was driving his vehicle when he was stopped by the patrolling members of the “Op Benteng Covid” after he was seen picking up three suspicious individuals by the roadside at Kampung Telok junction, near the Sarawak-Kalimantan border.
“Two women and one man, believed to be an Indonesian, were found inside the vehicle, and upon further inspection, the three individuals failed to produce any valid travel documentations.
“The driver, who is the owner of the vehicle also pleaded to the operation commander to not arrest him and has offered a bribe of RM1,200 to the operation commander,” he said.
Mancha added the total seizure amounting to RM45,200 and all four individuals were handed over to the Lundu district police headquarters and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for further action.
“They will be investigated under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (Atipsom 2007), Section 17(b) (MACC Act 2009) and Section 6(1) of the Immigration Act 1959 (Act 155),” he said.
On another note, Macha also disclosed that a total of 14 individuals who illegally entered the state through “jalan tikus” (illegal route) have been ordered to return to the neighboring country in three separate operations conducted under “Op Benteng Covid”.
According to him, the latest one involved three individuals who were found to be hiding inside a store near Biawak Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) today (Oct 19).
“After an investigation, all three are found to have entered the state through the “jalan tikus” from the nearby palm oil plantation in Kampung Biawak, and at the same time failed to produce any valid travel documentation for their entry into the country.
“All of them were found guilty under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342), including the Section 6(1) of the Immigration Act 1959 (Act 155), and were handed over to the Immigration Department in Biawak ICQS to be ordered to return back to their country,” he added.
In another operation, Mancha said that nine individuals have also been instructed to return to their country after being found to have illegally entered the state using “jalan tikus” in Lundu.
The nine individuals, he noted, were found by the intelligence team from the 11th Battalion GOF Batu Kawa while hiding behind an eatery premises, near the Biawak ICQS.
“All nine men failed to produce any valid travel documentations into the country and were instructed by the operation commander to return to Indonesia using the same entry path,” he said.
Mancha also revealed that two other men were also instructed to return back to Indonesia, after they were caught entering the country illegally through Kampung Padang Pan in Bau, on Oct 16.
“The two individual failed to produce any legal documentation for their entry into the country and was instructed to return back to Indonesia, for the offence committed under Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) and the Section 6(1) of the Immigration Act 1959 (Act 155),” he said. –DayakDaily.
