Perak MMEA Detain Three Localm Fishing Vessels For Violating Licence Conditions

IPOH, March 11 (Bernama) -- The Perak Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detained three local fishing vessels at three separate locations in and around the waters of Rungkup for various offences with the seized items worth RM950,000.

Perak MMEA director Capt (Maritime) Mohamad Shukri Khotob said 11 individuals, including foreign nationals were detained when the maritime vessel Jepak was on a routine patrolling session together with another maritime vessel that was on duty to safeguard security in the area over the weekend.

"In the first arrest case, a class B VNT was found to be not operated by the owner and instead employed a foreign crew without the permission of the Director General of Fisheries.

"Following this, the Tekong and two Indonesian crew members aged 35 to 45 were arrested for failing to produce valid identification documents and allowing illegal immigrants to be on the vessel," he said in a statement today.

Mohamad Shukri said in a separate case, a class C VNT with five crew members including a Myanmar skipper aged between 17 and 43, were arrested for the same offence and were also suspected of entering the country without using a legal route.

"In the third case, another class B1 trawler VNT was also detained after it was detected operating at a location that was less than the permitted distance from the mainland.

"Further inspection found that three crew members, including a local tekong aged between 47 to 61, had violated the conditions of their licence by fishing in prohibited areas and not operating their own boats," he said.

Mohamad Shukri said all cases were being investigated under the Fisheries Act 1985 for violating licence conditions, fishing in prohibited zones, and employing foreign crew without permission.

He said they were also being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63 for failing to produce identity documents and were suspected of entering the country through illegal routes.

He said the foreign crew was detained for further investigation, while the local fishermen were released on bond while boats, catches and fishing equipment were also confiscated and handed over to the Malaysian Maritime investigation officers for further action.

--BERNAMA