ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES – A bus driver smuggled his Singaporean friend into Malaysia by hiding him in the engine compartment of his vehicle after the man claimed that he was facing a lengthy jail sentence in Singapore.
Malaysian Muinuddin Mohamed committed the offence as he felt pity for Feroz Akthar Husain, 41, who also said that he missed his family in Malaysia.
Details about Feroz’s purported offences were not disclosed in court.
Muinuddin, 41, was sentenced to six months’ jail yesterday after he pleaded guilty to an offence under the Immigration Act.
An Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) prosecutor said that Muinuddin was resting in the bus near Hougang when Feroz approached him for help at around 3am on January 4, 2023.
Feroz hid in the engine compartment before Muinuddin picked up his passengers.
After the bus cleared the Tuas Checkpoint at around 7am, it reached a Johor checkpoint, where the passengers alighted to clear immigration, leaving Muinuddin and Feroz alone inside.
Muinuddin then opened the engine compartment to let Feroz out, who then got into the bus.
The bus left the checkpoint and Feroz later alighted in Johor.
The ICA prosecutor did not disclose how the offences came to light or if Feroz is still at large, but he told the court that Muinuddin was arrested on January 5 and was later charged in a Singapore district court.
For committing the offence, he could have been jailed for up to two years and fined up to SGD6,000.
