Photo shows some of the illegal immigrants caught during an operation.
SERIAN (June 29): The General Operations Force (GOF) arrested 12 illegal immigrants from Indonesia, including four children, along with three locals during two operations here yesterday (Jun 28).
Serian police chief DSP Aswandy Anis said the first operation was carried out near Kampung Tebekang Dayak, when a (GOF) team detained two cars around 5pm.
Aswandy said an inspection found that the two cars were driven by local men, aged 34 and 37, who acted as ground coordinators (tekong darat).
“Further examination later found that there were 11 Indonesian passengers, three adult men, four adult women, and four children, all of whom did not have valid identification documents.
“All of them, including the two locals, were detained for further investigation,” he said in a statement today.
Aswandy added the initial investigation found that all the illegal immigrants entered Sarawak through an illegal entry point in the Melikin area and wanted to go to Bintulu.
During the second operation, he said a GOF team found a car driven by a 33-year-old local man ferrying an illegal immigrant at an oil palm plantation area around 7.40 pm.
“The local man, suspected to be a ground coordinator, was found with an Indonesian man with him in the car.
“Further examination found that the Indonesian man in the car did not have any valid identification documents,” he said.
All three ground coordinators are being investigated under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Atipsom) Act 2007.
The 12 illegal immigrants are being investigated under the Immigration Act.
“Operations to curb the entry of foreigners continue to be tightened and continue to control illegal entry,” added Aswandy.