Assets worth RM34m seized in MMEA'S Ops Pagar Laut

KUALA TERENGGANU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has seized assets and equipment worth about RM34 million through Ops Pagar Laut conducted throughout last Ramadan.
MMEA Eastern Region director First Admiral (Maritime) Datuk Mamu Said Alee said within that month, 17 boats were seized and 87 individuals were arrested.
He said the operation was conducted yearly to curb encroachment activities by foreign fishermen who took advantage of the fasting month.
"The majority detained are Vietnamese fishermen aged between 21 and 60 years old and during that period we also conducted checks on 600 vessels.
"Apart from violating licensing terms and having no travel documents, we also caught some fishermen using cloned boat registration to fool the authorities while fishing in national waters," he told reporters here today. — Bernama