Successfully Revealing The Location Of 66 PMIs In The Forest, Riau Police Now Hunting ZP, Boss Of The Ship That Hit Mangrove Forest To Escape

A total of 140 Indonesian Migrant Workers were repatriated from Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, via the Sri Bintan International Port, Pura Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands (ANTARA)

PEKANBARU - The Directorate of General Criminal Investigation of the Riau Police thwarted an attempt to illegally send dozens of Indonesian migrant workers (PMI) to Malaysia. The officers' efforts began with the arrest of two suspects, ES alias EP and SS.

"Disclosure of the crime committed by this syndicate began with the securing of a pompong boat and a speed boat with two engines. The location is in Selomang Baru Hamlet, Makeruh Village, Rupat District, Bengkalis Regency, Riau on Sunday at around 18.45 WIB," said Head of Public Relations of the Riau Police Kombes Sunarto told reporters in Pekanbaru, Antara, Friday, May 20.

ES alias EP is known to be a resident of Rupat and SS is a resident of Dumai, while one suspect with the initials ZP is set to be on the wanted list (DPO).

Sunarto explained that during the arrest, officers found the two perpetrators about to launch and bring PMI. Meanwhile, ZP is the owner of two speed boat engines that will be used to illegally bring PMI to Malaysia.

During the arrest, ZP escaped by crashing his boat through the mangrove forest, so he was designated a DPO. "When arrested, it was ES who acted as the person looking for speed boat passengers (tekong land)," said Sunarto.

The next day, during development, officers managed to arrest SS in Pelitung Village, Medang Kampai District, Dumai. SS was arrested while carrying food for PMI who was accommodated in an empty house in the middle of the forest.

Meanwhile, based on a search by officers at the house, officers found 19 people, three of whom were citizens of Myanmar, to illegally depart for Malaysia.

Furthermore, as many as 50 other migrant workers were secured not far from the initial shelter location, to be exact at a shophouse in Pelintung, Medang Kampai, Dumai.

"For the next process, these 50 migrant workers were handed over to the Dumai Police to be returned to their place of origin. Based on interrogation, the perpetrators admitted that they had been carrying out this illegal activity for five months and had dispatched hundreds of Indonesian migrant workers to Malaysia," he explained.

According to the suspect's confession, ES, he acted as a recruiter for immigrant workers or land tekongs in charge of bringing these workers to Dumai to Rupat, earning Rp.

Meanwhile, the SS, who acts as a recruiter and host for PMI, is tasked with finding prospective migrant workers from South Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara, Java, Aceh, North Sumatra, and Myanmar.

"He (SS) received wages of between Rp. 5-13 million according to the direction of Tekong Laut, and then departed for Malaysia using a speed boat," said Sunarto.

For their actions, the suspects were charged with Article 4 in conjunction with Article 10 of Law Number 21 of 2007 concerning the Eradication of the Crime of Trafficking in Persons, with a minimum prison sentence of three years and a maximum of 15 years and a fine of Rp600 million.