A Malaysian man was detained while trying to use an illegal sea route to enter the country in an attempt to keep his second marriage a secret from his first wife. Authorities caught him while he was returning home from Indonesia without a passport.
The man, from the Malaysian state of Perak, claimed that he was forced to use "backdoor" channels because his first wife had his passport, She was unaware that he had another family in Medan, Indonesia.
The man was caught along with 28 undocumented migrants by the Selangor Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) during a special operation on January 26, according to a report in New Strait Times.
What Malaysian authorities said
According to Selangor maritime authorities, the man admitted that his first wife was unaware of his second marriage and said he had been entering and leaving the country illegally to avoid arousing suspicion.
He claimed he travelled to Indonesia last week after learning that his second wife, who is five months pregnant, was in critical condition. Unable to fly due to the lack of a passport, he said this was the first time he had used an illegal route.
Selangor Maritime director Captain Abdul Muhaimin Muhammad Salleh confirmed that the man had travelled to Medan last week to visit his pregnant second wife.
{{/usCountry}}Selangor Maritime director Captain Abdul Muhaimin Muhammad Salleh confirmed that the man had travelled to Medan last week to visit his pregnant second wife.
{{/usCountry}}"The man claimed his first wife in Perak was oblivious to his second marriage. He chose the illegal route to ensure his secret remained safe," Abdul Muhaimin told a press conference.
The arrest
The man was among two Malaysians and dozens of undocumented migrants detained during a special operation by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) in the early hours of Monday, January 26.
Selangor MMEA director Captain Abdul Muhaimin Muhammad Salleh said officers intercepted two boats off the coast of Sabak Bernam following intelligence on human smuggling activities.
The first interception occurred at about 12.30am, around 1.5 nautical miles southwest of Bagan Nakhoda Omar, involving an unregistered fibreglass boat piloted by a 36-year-old Myanmar national. On board were 26 Indonesians — 17 men, including a child, and nine women aged between five and 53 — along with two Malaysian men.
A second boat was intercepted at around 2am, approximately two nautical miles southwest of the same area. The vessel, manned by three Indonesian crew members, was carrying 24 undocumented migrants comprising 19 men, five women and a three-month-old baby girl who was being carried by her father.
Investigations found that the smuggling syndicate charged between RM1,500 and RM2,500 per person, depending on the distance travelled and drop-off location.