MMEA Detains 24 Foreign Fishermen For Intrusion Into M'sian's Waters

KEMAMAN (Terengganu, Malaysia), Oct 8 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has detained 24 Vietnamese fishermen and seized two fishing boats for encroaching into Malaysian waters, Tuesday. Kemaman Maritime Base chief enforcement officer, Lieutenant Commander Norhafizi Mohd Rafek said the boats were detained about 93 nautical miles northeast of Kuala Kemaman, at 9.15am. He said the MMEA personnel detected the boats were carrying out fishing activities using trawl nets and when they noticed the authority's presence, the fishermen cut the nets off before fleeing the scene. "We managed to detain the boats after chasing after them and we found that all the fishermen aged between 18 to 40 did not possess valid travel documents," he told a press conference here, Wednesday. Norhafizi said the inspection in one of the boats led to the discovery of 10,000 litres of diesel which was stored in the boat's cargo area. He added the seizure was estimated US$379,136 (RM1.6 million), while the weight of the fish was seven tonnes. Kemaman is a district in Terengganu, on the east coast of Malaysia facing the South China Sea. -- BERNAMA