JOHOR BARU, July 12 — An attempt by five Indonesian men to sneak out of the country through an illegal route in Kota Tinggi was foiled by the  61st Royal Artillery Regiment (61 RAD) of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) 61st Royal Artillery Regiment (61 RAD) today.

The Malaysian Third Infantry Division Headquarters, in a statement today, said those detained were aged between 23 and 40 years.

It said the arrest was made at 4am in Kampung Gambut Punggai following information from the Second Regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps (2 KAD) which detected a boat approaching the village through it Gempita armoured-vehicle radar surveillance system.

"Based on the information, a team from 61 RAD, led by Captain Norhisham Iswandy, from the Tanjung Sepang military post was deployed to conduct security patrol around the village, where they came across a suspicious boat located 50 metre from the beach.

"Following a searchy, the team found five illegal immigrants hiding in the bushes, believed to have been waiting for the boat,” it said.

Seven mobile phones, cash of RM1,550 and 21 million Indonesia  rupiah (RM6,236) were seized and the suspects were handed over to the Bayu Damai police station for action, he added. — Bernama