KOTA KINABALU: Two Vietnamese ‘tekong’ (skippers) who encroached into the state waters recently thought they could get away with bribing a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) officer with RM3,400.
Their attempt was however ignored, and the maritime enforcement officers proceeded to arrest the duo along with 36 other Vietnamese crew members from two fishing vessels.
In the 8.40am incident on Tuesday, MMEA patrol boats approached the suspicious Vietnamese fishing vessels about 15 kilometres from Pulau Mengalum.
District MMEA director First Admiral Adam Aziz said enforcement personnel and officers boarded the vessels laden with 1,800 kilogrammes of fish; 110 kilogrammes of giant clam shells; and 195.5 kilogrammes of giant clams.
The agency has categorised giant clams as prohibited marine species.
“Upon further inspection, we found that both vessels have a suspicious documentation. The two ‘tekong’ had also tried to bribe our maritime officer with RM3,400 to not detain their boat but it was ignored,” he said.
Adam said the two fishing vessels have been towed to the MMEA jetty in Sepanggar, adding the crew members are being held to facilitate investigations.
He said the case would be investigated under the Fisheries Act 1985 and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.
“With the arrest, we have managed to curb encroachment of foreign boats and the agency will continue its effort to protect Malaysian waters and the resources,” he said.