LAHAD DATU: The Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) has detained 26 illegal immigrants in various integrated operations in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) between Friday and Sunday.
ESSCom commander Datuk Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid said the 24 Filipinos and two Indonesians, aged between 15 and 50, were nabbed when they tried to slip into the country via a sea route.
None of them had valid travel documents, he said.
“Also seized were three boats, three 13-horsepower pump engines, three 15-horsepower engines, 15 rice packs, 10 sugar packs and a gas cylinder totalling over RM36,000,” he said in a statement here yesterday.
The operation was jointly conducted by the Royal Malaysian Police, Malaysian Armed Forces and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.
Meanwhile, Wan Abdul Bari urged all fishing boat and trawler operators to adhere to the instruction issued by the Sabah police to install the Automatic Identification System so that security forces could track the movement of their boats while at sea.
“I also seek cooperation from all boats (skippers) to report their movement and location to the ESSCom Operations Centre at all times so that the security forces can render assistance immediately should there be any unwanted incident involving their crew members,” he said.
He said this in light of three Filipino fishermen with valid travel documents who were abducted in waters off Pulau Pom Pom, Semporna last Saturday night.