T

he Western Fleet Quick Response team operating from the Region IV Main Naval Base in Tanjung Pinang, Riau Islands, seized three small boats in the waters off Batam on Tuesday night as they were allegedly being used to smuggle 40 Indonesians to Malaysia.

It is believed the people on board the boats were to be illegally employed cleaning the tanks of ships moored in Malaysian territorial waters.

Commander of the Tanjung Pinang base, First Adm. S. Irawan, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that the arrests were made near Jodoh Beach, Batam, not long after the boats departed for Malaysian waters. Two of the boats, however, managed to escape into the outer port limit area.

“This is the work of a human-trafficking syndicate. We arrested them because they were using unseaworthy ships and did not have proper papers or working permits,” Irawan said.

According to the navy’s investigators, the 40 people were aged between 18 and 40 years of age. They were to be hired to clean the ships’ tanks at a wage of Rp 180,000 (US$13.51) per day.

“We will work together with Malaysia to uncover this syndicate’s network,” Irawan said, expressing the belief that the masterminds behind the illegal recruitment of workers resided in both countries.

He said that he would hand the alleged smugglers to the police for further questioning. They have been identified as Ahmad “Kulup” Jurari, Musliadi, Hendra, Fadli and Edy.

One of the alleged smugglers, 35-year-old Kulup, reportedly told investigators that he had sent dozens of people to work on ships in international waters for a daily wage of Rp 180,000 plus accommodation.

“Our recruiters are in Malaysia. They tell us how many they needed to clean the ships,” Ahmad said.

Spokesperson for the naval base, Maj. Josdy Damopole, however, said the alleged smugglers’ story could not be fully trusted given the nature of their business and that there was also a possibility they were employed as couriers in crimes such as drug smuggling.

Separately in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) handed over 14 suspects in human-trafficking cases to the Kupang Prosecutor’s Office and the NTT Prosecutor’s Office.

“As the crimes occurred in Kupang city and Kupang regency, the dossiers were directly handed over to the provincial prosecutor’s office,” NTT Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Jules Abas told the Post on Wednesday.

Previously, on Tuesday, the police also handed over two human trafficking suspects to the local authority. The two, identified as Beneditus Sani Babu and Godstar Mozez Baniks, were reportedly employees of the Kupang Immigration Office.

Jules said the suspects were members of a human-trafficking syndicate in NTT that was uncovered during large scale police raids conducted in October.

The NTT Police, according to Jules, have uncovered seven human trafficking networks so far.

He said the NTT Police had intensified their investigations into human trafficking cases following the suspicious death of local migrant worker Yulfrida Selan.