Illegal immigrants at Sungei Buloh nabbed

First time human smugglers have chosen wetland as entry point
Elizabeth Soh Straits Times 12 Jan 11;

THE seven 'visitors' at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve on Monday morning were not there to check out the wildlife.

Instead, two of them - a boatman and his assistant - had arrived by motorboat to deposit their load of five women, all Chinese nationals.

This is the first time human smugglers have chosen the wetland reserve as an entry point to Singapore, instead of traditional hot spots along the Tuas coastline.

But even before the boat had reached Singapore, it was spotted by the Police Coast Guard (PCG). All seven were arrested after a five-hour search of the 87ha reserve, involving 50 officers.

According to the PCG, at around 5.30am that day, an unlit motorboat was spotted moving slowly from Sungei Danga towards Lido beach in Johor. Once it reached Lido, it suddenly picked up speed to cover the 1.8km distance to the wetland reserve.

Within four minutes, the boat had reached the reserve and unloaded the five women. It then made a dash back to Malaysian waters, only to encounter a PCG vessel.

The two in the boat made a U-turn back to Sungei Buloh, abandoned their craft and dashed into the forest.

By then, staff from the Jurong Police Division, Special Operations Command and the Gurkha Contingent had been deployed to track down the seven people, and by 11am, the game was over.

The women, aged between 32 and 54, had previously committed immigration-related offences here.

They are believed to have paid between 17,000 yuan (S$3,330) and 20,000 yuan to a smuggling syndicate in Malaysia. They flew from their hometown in Fujian province to Malaysia.

The boatman, 54, and his assistant, 21, are said to have been paid about RM300 (S$127) for each passenger brought over.

The attempts of syndicates to try new entry points show that they are 'finding it much harder' to do their illicit work, said PCG deputy commander Sam Tee.

'Some have even tried locations like Pulau Ubin or Pulau Tekong, even though they know that the passengers will be caught,' he noted.

Last October saw two human smuggling attempts from Indonesia and Malaysia involving Chinese nationals. They had tried to enter Singapore near Senoko Way and Pulau Ubin, respectively.

The penalty for unlawful entry is a jail term of up to six months, plus a minimum three strokes of the cane and/or a fine up to $6,000. The punishment for conveying prohibited immigrants is a jail term of two to five years, plus a minimum three strokes of the cane.