Inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. The Indonesian Navy foiled an attempt to traffic Indonesian migrant workers and Bangladeshi nationals into Malaysia via Batam's waters on Sunday. Commander First Admiral Tjatur Soniarto from the Batam Navy Main Base reported on Monday (1/4/2024) that eight men, including four Bangladeshis, three Indonesians from Lombok, and one middleman known as S alias A (30 years old), were detained. The operation involved two speedboats with engines of 40 and 15 PK, as reported by antaranews.com. Commander Tjatur revealed that sending one person to Malaysia cost between Rp 13 million to Rp 18 million for Indonesians, while the middleman demanded approximately Rp 79 million from each of the four Bangladeshi nationals. The task force received a tip about the migrants' illegal departure from the Sagulung 12 Kitchen People's Port to Geranting Island in the Belakang Padang District on Sunday. After surveillance, the team spotted two speedboats entering the Dapur Arang River. Admiral Tjatur said that the three non-procedural migrant candidates and the middleman were handed over to the Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Center (BP3MI), while the Bangladeshi workers were handed over to immigration authorities for repatriation. (mg/inp/pr/nm)