Gerebek Rumah Di Tanjungpinang, Polisi Ciduk Captain Kapal Pengangkut PMI Illegal Ke Malaysia

Illustration. Patrol police in Meranti Islands, Riau. (Antara)

KEPRI - Police raided a rented house in Gang Bayam, Jalan Tugu Pahlawan, Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands (Kepri), which is a reservoir for illegal Indonesian migrant workers (PMI).

Head of the Tanjungpinang Police Criminal Investigation Unit, Adjunct Commissioner of Police Ronny Burungudju, said the raid was carried out on Tuesday, September 27, after the police received information from the local community.

"Armed with information from residents, we immediately conducted an investigation and found a rented house suspected of being a shelter for illegal migrant workers," Ronny told reporters in Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, September 28.

During the raid, the police found three men as PMI candidates for illegal. They came from outside the Riau Islands area and planned to depart for Malaysia by unofficial sea in Berakit Village, Bintan Regency.

Together with the three people, the police also arrested a man with the initials H who is suspected of being a tekong or some kind of speedboat captain to transport the three illegal PMI candidates.

"We also secured evidence in the form of four passports, four ID cards, five cell phones, and an ATM card," said Kasatreskrim.

Dari hasil pemeriksaan, ketiga orang calon PMI ilegal ini mengaku telah menyerahkan uang sebesar Rp6 juta kepada tekong H untuk biaya kepergkatan mereka ke Malaysia.

"The three victims have been at the shelter for two weeks, but have not been dispatched," said Ronny.

Tekong H also admitted that he had received Rp 6 million from the three prospective illegal migrant workers and confirmed that the three victims wanted to be dispatched to Malaysia by unofficial sea.

Currently, Tekong H and the three victims of the prospective illegal migrant workers have been secured to the Tanjungpinang Police Headquarters for further investigation.

Specifically, Tekong H is suspected of violating Article 69 in conjunction with Article 81 of Law Number 18 of 2017 concerning the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, with a penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of Rp. 15 billion.