PORT KLANG: Indonesian Customs have foiled an attempt to smuggle out 38 Indonesians, including two pregnant women, by boat at the Sungai Langat estuary, in Sepang.
State Customs director Badaruddin Mohamed Rafik said that in a midnight raid they found the wooden boat heading towards the Straits of Melaka with 31 men, including three Indonesian crew and 10 women.
“The boat was not registered and was heading towards the Straits of Melaka and onward to Indonesia. The illegal immigrants were cramped into the 15-metre wooden boat which is used to transport mangrove wood,” he told a press conference at the port customs complex.
He said that the crew and illegal immigrants did not possess passports or work permits and 20 of them had overstayed since 2012. The group has been remanded for a week to facilitate investigations under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, he added.
