PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has identified several suspected kingpins who were alleged to have orchestrated the hijacking of petrol-tanker MT Orkim Harmony nearly two weeks ago.
Its deputy director-general Datuk Ahmad Puzi Ab Kahar said the MMEA have narrowed down on two or three people through intelligence gathering following the recent recovery of the ship and the arrests of eight men in Vietnam.
The hijackers, he said, had used satellite communications devices during the heist, which invariably gave away leads to MMEA's investigators.
"They maintained constant contact with those who we believe have masterminded the entire thing and we have been able to extract (valuable) information from this," he told a press conference at the agency's headquarters, here, this afternoon.
Puzi said several related ministries and departments were attempting to expedite the extradition of the eight suspected hijackers who were arrested in Tho Chu Island, Vietnam last week.
The remaining five suspects, who used a tug boat to help the arrested men board and hijack the petrol-laden vessel, were still at large.
However, he said the agency's counterpart in Batam Island, Indonesia, where the tug boat was abandoned, were hot on the trails of the suspects.