JOHOR BARU: A collaborative effort between Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia maritime enforcement agencies led to the arrest of three men who stole scrap metal from a barge in the waters off Batu Puteh on Tuesday.
In the incident at about 9am, a tug boat, Jin Hwa 15, which had an accompanying barge loaded with scrap metal alerted the Singaporean authorities about the presence of small boat that was approaching it.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) southern region (operation) First Admiral Ibrahim Mohamed said the master of the tug boat alerted the Singaporean maritime enforcement when the small boat getting close to the barge.
When the small boat reached the barge, several people were seen looting the scrap metal on the barge.
"The Singaporean authority alerted the MMEA and two patrolling boats were deployed to intercept the robbers," he said.
Ibrahim said MMEA patrolling boats gave chase until they reached the Indonesian border and alerted the Indonesian navy to pursue the small boat.
The three suspects, all Indonesians were arrested by the Indonesian navy the same day.
Ibrahim said the case will be investigated by the Indonesian authority.
"We will continue to cooperate with one another to weed out theft at sea in along the borders of the three countries," he said.