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SHAH ALAM – The Selangor Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained five Indonesian men without valid permits working onboard a Class C fishing boat in the waters of Sg Besar, near here, at 12.50pm yesterday.
Its director, Capt V. Siva Kumar said all the foreign nationals were detained during Op Ehsan after a Selangor MMEA patrol boat conducted an inspection of the fishing vessel at 5.2 nautical miles off the coast.
Siva Kumar said the inspection found that the boat was operated by a skipper and four crewmen who were all foreign nationals, aged between 31 and 54.
He said the inspection also found that all of them did not possess valid identification documents and that the boat owner had employed the Indonesian nationals without the permission of the director-general of the Malaysian Fisheries Department, adding that 200kg of various fish, as well as fishing equipment, were also found on the boat.
“All the foreign nationals had been working for the boat owner for between four months and two years, and were paid in cash according to the days out at sea, that is RM100 for the skipper and RM50 for a crewman.
“All of them (foreign nationals) were acquaintances from the same area in Indonesia and did not have family ties,” he also said in a statement today.
Siva Kumar added that all the foreign nationals and the boat were taken to the Pulau Indah Marine Police jetty before being handed over to the MMEA investigation officer for further action. – Bernama, January 15, 2023