Tekong And ABK Step On The Gas See Indonesian Navy Officers, Turns Out To Be Smuggling 7 Illegal PMIs To Malaysia

TNI AL Dumai secures seven prospective migrant workers who will be illegally departed to Malaysia (Photo: ANTARA/HO-Lanal Dumai)

RIAU - Officials from the Dumai Naval Base (Lanal) in Riau Province thwarted the smuggling of seven prospective Indonesian migrant workers to Malaysia using an anonymous wooden speedboat in the waters of Tanjung Sentau, Hulu Dumai, Monday, March 21.

The Commander of Dumai Naval Base, Marine Colonel (P) Himawan, said the Navy team led by Dansub Unit of Technical Intel Lt. Marine (Kh) Fersy Angry was forced to chase the workers along with the tekong (skipper) and crew members who fled in the coastal area of local waters because the ship ran aground.

"The stilt ship was speeding towards Malaysia, we gave chase because the ship turned towards the mainland and ran aground on Sentau Hulu Beach. Only the prospective workers were arrested, while the tekong and the crew fled", Danlanal Himawan told reporters at Dumai, Antara, Tuesday, March 22.

After being arrested, the 7 Indonesian migrant workers (PMI), all of whom were men, were taken to the Tanjung Medang Dumai Navy Post and then handed over to the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI) for further investigation and processing.

The effort to thwart the smuggling of citizens to Malaysia with the Yamaha 85 PK and 60 PK engine speed boats, said Colonel Himawan, started with information from agents and was followed up by sending a team to conduct sweeps and partitions in the waters of Tanjung Sembal Dumai.

Dumai Naval Base's success in thwarting the PMI's departure is a form of readiness and preparedness of the Indonesian Navy in dealing with various threats in the work area according to instructions from the Navy Chief of Staff, Admiral Yudo Margono.

Sometime earlier, Dumai Naval Base also managed to thwart any attempt to smuggle 22 prospective illegal workers into Malaysia by sea. Danlanal also appealed to the public to take the official route if they wanted to work abroad.