TANAH MERAH: Kelantan police thwarted a local man’s attempt to smuggle 23 Myanmar nationals into the country using a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) here on Sunday (June 12) night.

       Tanah Merah district police chief Supt Wan Zulfikri Wan Othman said earlier its patrol car unit spotted the 57-year-old man driving a Toyota Vellfire in a suspicious manner in Bukit Bunga.

       He said the patrol car followed the MPV and when the siren was turned on, the driver sped up, but the vehicle was finally pulled over at Batu 11 Jalan Jeli-Tanah Merah.

       "The driver tried to flee but he was caught in the nearby bushes. Further inspection of the vehicle found 18 Myanmar men and five women aged between 19 and 44," he said in a statement, on Monday (June 13).

       Wan Zulfikri said all of them who had just entered the country on the same day did not have valid travel documents.

       He said the driver confessed to receiving RM6,900 to transport the illegal immigrants to Kuala Lumpur.

       The suspect, who tested positive for methamphetamine, had three criminal records and 16 records involving drugs, he added.

       "The driver is being investigated under Section 26J of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (ATIPSOM) 2007, while the Myanmar nationals are being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/69," he said. - Bernama