Three men were arrested by the Police Coast Guard for illegal entry into Singapore territorial waters, as reported by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Saturday (Apr 19).
According to SPF, the incident took place on Friday at around 2.05 pm near Pulau Sarimbun, an island off Singapore’s northwestern coast.
The coast guard officers spotted an unidentified sampan and approached it, but the sampan fled towards Malaysia, prompting a pursuit. During the chase within Singapore territorial waters, two men fell overboard but managed to climb back onto the sampan, which also collided with the coast guard vessel twice before being stopped.
The chase resulted in a Coast Guard officer sustaining minor injuries. The three men, identified as Malaysian nationals aged between 28 and 47, were arrested onboard the sampan for the offence of illegal entry into Singapore waters. The sampan was also seized as part of the enforcement action.
In addition to the offence of illegal entry, the 28-year-old boatman will be investigated for rash navigation and failure to comply with a lawful order to stop. The Singapore Police Force stated that police investigations into the incident are ongoing.
