JOHOR BARU, June 17 — Police are tracking down the individuals who entered the country illegally by breaching a makeshift route below the Johor Causeway on the banks of the Tebrau Straits between Singapore and Johor after a video recording of the incident was widely shared on social media recently.

Johor Baru South police chief Assistant Commissioner Raub Selamat said five men and three women were identified to have entered the country illegally based on investigations as well as footage from a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera placed near the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facility at the Sultan Iskandar Building (BSI).

"The case is being investigated under Section 6 (3) of the Immigration Act 1969/63. The individuals involved in the illegal entry have been asked to present themselves at the Johor Baru South district police headquarters to have their statements recorded,” Raub said in a statement this afternoon.

He was responding to the video footage that showed several people making their way out of the Johor Causeway from Singapore to Johor Baru by walking and climbing into an illegal opening without going through passport control of the BSI’s CIQ facility.

It is believed that the reason for their actions was to avoid the daily long queues due to rush hour traffic and the reopening of the borders.

Raub urged those with information related to the incident to contact the police.

Meanwhile, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said several immediate measures have been placed by the authorities to prevent a recurrence of the breach.

He said police have placed a 24-hour guard at the scene and installed barbed wire along the opening of the Tebrau Straits at the end of the Causeway.

"I also discussed the matter with the Home Ministry to resolve the issues at the BSI’s CIQ,” said Onn Hafiz in response to the incident on his Facebook page earlier today.

The Johor Causeway is considered as one of the world’s busiest land crossings where it connects Johor Baru with Woodlands in Singapore.