BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

A MALAYSIAN was sentenced yesterday to serve three years and 10 months in jail for smuggling women and children into the country.

The court document stated that Iberi Sabal, 55, was arrested on April 12 at Kuala Lurah Immigration Control Post after an immigration officer found more passengers in the car than the number of passports produced by the defendant.

At the time, the defendant had eight passengers with him but he had only produced seven passports to the immigration officer.

Investigations found that the defendant had agreed to bring a girl into Sabah at the request of the girl’s uncle, and he was paid RM100 for fuel by the latter.

When the defendant met with the girl, he further agreed to bring more passengers to Sabah, including two women and five children. As he knew that the passengers did not have any travel documents to enter Brunei, the defendant provided them with passports but under different names.

The seven passengers travelling with the defendant were Philippine nationals.

On April 12, the nine of them left from Miri and were able to enter Brunei through Sungai Tujoh Control Post.

They had intended to head to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah by going through the Kuala Lurah Control Post, only to be arrested following the inspection by the immigration officer.

The Brunei Times