KOTA KINABALU (ANN/THE STAR) – A band of smugglers jettisoned crates of illegal beer into the sea as they evaded the marine police in a high-speed pursuit in Labuan waters on Monday night.
Prior to this, marine police had detected a suspicious boat with unidentified individuals aboard while conducting patrols in Brunei Bay around 8.45pm.
Sabah Region Four Marine Police Commander Asst Comm Ahmad Ariffin said they believed the boat was headed to Sarawak from Labuan.
“Our vessel tried to intercept the boat but it sped off towards the Lawas waters (in Sarawak), we believe in order to evade an inspection,” he said, when contacted on Tuesday.
“Our men immediately gave chase and saw several individuals on the boat throwing things into the sea,” he added.
He said the marine police vessel had to avoid hitting the objects on the water, adding the boat then managed to slip away.
ACP Ahmad said they later fished out scores of cartons containing a total of 648 cans of beer from the water that were discarded by the smugglers.
“We believe the drinks, estimated to be worth over MYR6,000, were meant to be sold in Sarawak,” he said.
He added the items would be handed over to the Customs Department for the next course of action.
