MMEA foils bid to smuggle 119 Rohingya migrants, nabs four locals

ALOR STAR – The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) thwarted an attempt by four local men to smuggle in 119 Rohingya nationals into the country by hiding the migrants in the fish compartments of a boat in Sg Kedah last Tuesday.

Kedah police chief Wan Hassan Wan Ahmad said a MMEA team on patrol in the area intercepted the boat at about 9.20pm and following inspection, found the migrants in the fish compartment.

There were 119 Rohingya, comprising 47 men, 32 women, 23 girls, and 17 boys, aged between 5 and 38, hiding in the compartment on the lower deck of the boat, he said in a statement today.

He said four local men, aged between 32 and 39 who included two civil servants, were also arrested for investigation under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2017. – Bernama, May 26, 2022