KUCHING: Two local men were each sentenced to two years in prison by the High Court here today for smuggling foreigners into the country.
The accused Chan, 37, and Even, 26, each pleaded guilty to one charge under Section 26J of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Act (ATIPSOM) 2007 which was read before Judge Datuk Zaleha Rose Pandin.
According to the charges, Chin Ying, who works as a welder, allegedly transported 10 Indonesian migrants using a sedan car along Serian- Tebedu Road at around 11.50pm on September 26.
Meanwhile, in the other case, Even, who works as a labourer, was accused of transporting six Indonesian migrants using a Perodua Alza around the San Demam area, Lubok Antu at about 5pm on September 28.
If convicted, the accused can be jailed for not more than five years and fined a maximum of RM250,000 or both.
Datuk Zaleha allowed the accused Chin Ying to serve his prison sentence in Sibu, while Even will serve his prison sentence in Sri Aman at the request of respectived accused.
According to the facts of the case, it was understood that all the migrants who entered this country through an agent from their own country were told to wait on the illegal pathway where the accused will use his vehicle to bring them into this country.
Meanwhile, the police managed to arrest the MPV vehicle during a crime prevention patrol in Lubok Antu at around 5pm on September 28 on Jalan Sri Aman.
As a result of the investigation, it was found that the driver of the MPV (Even) brought six Indonesians into the country through the illegal pathway.
In addition, the Malaysian Immigration Department also revealed that there is no record of the latest entry into Malaysia for each migrant in the two cases involved.
The prosecution of the case was handled by Deputy Public Prosecutor Md Syafique Md Hilmie while the two accused were not represented by lawyers.
