The local suspect (standing) and the five Indonesian immigrants who were stopped near the junction of an oil palm plantation at Kampung Mongkos.
KUCHING (June 4): A motorist who sped through a roadblock mounted at Kampung Mongkos in Serian to evade inspection on May 31 was tracked down and arrested by police that same night.
Serian police chief DSP Aswandy Anis said police were notified of the initial incident around 8.30pm by People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) personnel who were manning the roadblock, and immediately dispatched a team to go after the motorist who was driving a silver multipurpose vehicle.
“The vehicle was finally stopped by police at Jalan Kampung Seroban, some 45km from Kampung Mongkos.
“Checks on the vehicle found that the suspect, 44, was transporting an Indonesian immigrant whose passport had expired,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Aswandy said their investigation revealed that the immigrant entered the state through an illegal route at Kampung Mongkos and paid the suspect RM200 to transport him to an oil palm plantation in Simunjan.
In a separate case, Aswandy said personnel from the General Operations Force (GOF) detained a local man along with five Indonesian illegal immigrants near the junction of an oil palm plantation at Kampung Mongkos on Wednesday.
He said the six persons were travelling in a vehicle when they were spotted by GOF personnel, who then trailed them for about 10 minutes to Jalan Kampung Muara Mongkos before ordering them to stop.
“The 23-year-old local is believed to have received payments of RM300 each from the five Indonesian immigrants to transport them to Kuching,” he said.
Both incidents are being investigated under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (Atipsom) 2007 and the Immigration Act 1959/63, he added.
Aswandy meanwhile warned of stern action against anyone found to be harbouring or transporting illegal immigrants, saying Serian police and the GOF will continue to conduct operations to uncover such illegal activities in the effort to break the chain of Covid-19 infection.
He also called on the community especially those living near border areas to inform the authorities of any human trafficking activities.