INTERPOL alerts issued for kidnapped sailors following maritime security operation

26 May 2016

BUKIT AMAN, Malaysia – INTERPOL alerts have been issued for four Malaysian sailors who were kidnapped after their boat was attacked by armed men.

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The Yellow Notices were issued as part of the INTERPOL-coordinated Operation Gelora Khas (Turbulent Wave in Bahasa Malay), conducted within the framework of its Capacity Building Programme to Foster Maritime Security in Malaysia, targeting crimes including people smuggling, human trafficking, robbery and illegal fishing.

The sailors were kidnapped in April after a boat containing eight men armed with AK-47s pulled alongside their vessel and shots were fired, injuring one of the nine crew members. The attackers then boarded the boat before taking the men, leaving the five others behind.

Involving more than 160 officers from the Marine Operations Force (MOF) of the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP), the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Kuala Lumpur, the Immigration Department of Malaysia, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department and the Department of Fisheries, some 332 vessels were boarded and screened during the eight-day (28 April - 5 May) operation.

As a result of the interventions a total of 30 arrests were made, 13 in connection with Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, 12 for irregular migration and five in connection with drugs and illicit goods trafficking.

Coordinated through INTERPOL’s Integrated Border Management Task Force the operation is part of a range of activities including capacity building and training, supported by the Government of Canada, aimed at enhancing border security throughout the ASEAN region.

INTERPOL Notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information. Yellow Notices are published for victims of parental abductions, kidnappings or unexplained disappearances.