KOTA KINABALU: A 52-year-old blind man was among 28 people detained on a Malaysian-registered fishing boat when it entered Kota Kinabalu waters yesterday.
Sabah and Labuan Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency director First Admiral Maritime Datuk Che Engku Suhaimi Che Engku Daik said the Sabah Coastal Surveillance System
(SWASLA) radar detected suspicious movement involving the boat from the Philippines.
MMEA stopped the boat at 10.2 nautical miles north of Tanjung Luk Pisuk, Tuaran, at 5.43pm yesterday.
Upon inspection, it was found that the boat owner's name was not the same as what was written in the copy of the boat's licence.
The 12 passengers on the boat also had questionable identification documents.
"One of the passengers was a 52-year-old visually impaired man. There was also a family consisting of a father with his son and two daughters aged between 14 and 23. Four elderly women aged between 55 and 66 were also on the boat," he said in a statement
One of the passengers presented a Malaysian identification card, while another passenger presented a social visit pass. Four other passengers presented birth certificates, while the rest failed to produce any identification documents.
All of them ranged in age from 14 to 70.
The boat owner and passengers were detained, while the boat was seized to be investigated under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (ATIPSOM), Immigration Act 1959/63, and the Sabah Ports and Wharves Enactment 2002.