Smugglers are reportedly daring to navigate boats at high speed in total darkness across more than 12 kilometres along the Kelantan River in an attempt to bring in undocumented migrants without detection by authorities.
Kelantan Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director Captain Maritime Kamal Mohamad said the smugglers are highly skilled in river navigation and familiar with the terrain, allowing them to evade enforcement despite ongoing surveillance.
He said the undocumented migrants are believed to have been brought in via sea routes from Thailand before entering the Kelantan River, with the state serving as a transit point before they are moved to job locations arranged by syndicates.
In one incident, authorities detected a speeding boat entering the river mouth at around 11.47pm last Wednesday, triggering a chase by enforcement teams.
However, the boat managed to escape after being navigated in complete darkness, making pursuit difficult.
A follow-up search at about 12.20am led officers to discover eight Myanmar nationals hiding in bushes near the area.
The group, comprising five men and three women aged between 18 and 51, were found without valid travel documents.
Preliminary investigations revealed they were en route to Kuala Lumpur to work in the manufacturing sector, and had each allegedly paid around RM6,000 to agents for the journey, which took approximately four days.
All detainees have been taken to the Kelantan MMEA headquarters in Tok Bali for further investigation and action.
