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Police warn of tough action against human smugglers
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 25 March 2009 1838 hrs
SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force has warned that it will take tough measures against human smugglers as they pose a threat to the country's security.
The police were responding to queries about a recent case involving two Malaysian suspects reported in the Malaysian media.
According to a police statement, the Singapore Police Coast Guard (PCG) first spotted a speedboat piloted by the duo, P Ramlee Salam and Khamis Bin Mohammad, on March 14 at about 2am.
They had entered Singapore waters off Punggol Barat, dropped illegal immigrants near the shore and sped away.
Despite repeated warnings to stop and flares being fired into the air, the duo ignored the warnings and tried to outrun the PCG boats, executing a series of reckless manoeuvres to evade capture.
The police said there was no basis to reports that the two had unintentionally strayed into Singapore's territorial waters, nor were they out fishing when their boat collided with a PCG boat.
After the collision, Ramlee was found unconscious in the speedboat. He was brought to shore and was later pronounced dead by paramedics.
To determine his identity, his fingerprints were sent to the Malaysian authorities. However, his next-of-kin contacted the police on March 16 before the identification results were known.
A post-mortem by a Singapore forensic pathologist revealed that he had died of head injuries sustained during the collision.
A police investigation is underway and the findings will be presented at a coroner's inquiry in open court.
Seven illegal immigrants off-loaded by the duo were arrested. They were later charged and convicted of immigration offences and sentenced to jail.
On March 19, the surviving human smuggler Khamis pleaded guilty to nine counts of immigration offences. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years' jail and 15 strokes of the cane.
- CNA/yt
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 25 March 2009 1838 hrs
SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force has warned that it will take tough measures against human smugglers as they pose a threat to the country's security.
The police were responding to queries about a recent case involving two Malaysian suspects reported in the Malaysian media.
According to a police statement, the Singapore Police Coast Guard (PCG) first spotted a speedboat piloted by the duo, P Ramlee Salam and Khamis Bin Mohammad, on March 14 at about 2am.
They had entered Singapore waters off Punggol Barat, dropped illegal immigrants near the shore and sped away.
Despite repeated warnings to stop and flares being fired into the air, the duo ignored the warnings and tried to outrun the PCG boats, executing a series of reckless manoeuvres to evade capture.
The police said there was no basis to reports that the two had unintentionally strayed into Singapore's territorial waters, nor were they out fishing when their boat collided with a PCG boat.
After the collision, Ramlee was found unconscious in the speedboat. He was brought to shore and was later pronounced dead by paramedics.
To determine his identity, his fingerprints were sent to the Malaysian authorities. However, his next-of-kin contacted the police on March 16 before the identification results were known.
A post-mortem by a Singapore forensic pathologist revealed that he had died of head injuries sustained during the collision.
A police investigation is underway and the findings will be presented at a coroner's inquiry in open court.
Seven illegal immigrants off-loaded by the duo were arrested. They were later charged and convicted of immigration offences and sentenced to jail.
On March 19, the surviving human smuggler Khamis pleaded guilty to nine counts of immigration offences. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years' jail and 15 strokes of the cane.
- CNA/yt
