Indonesian man, 23, charged with helping 3 people hiding in barge enter S'pore illegally

The Singapore police have arrested eight men, aged between 23 and 42, on Nov. 9 for their alleged involvement in abetting persons to enter Singapore unlawfully.

The police said in a statement that officers from the Police Coast Guard conducted an operation at Pulau Punggol Aggregate Terminal and made the arrests of the foreign crew members onboard a foreign-registered tugboat.

Preliminary investigations revealed that one of the crew members, a 23-year-old Indonesian man, Febry Iswanto, was believed to have aided unauthorised persons to enter Singapore illegally at around 2:30am on Oct. 26.

The unauthorised persons had hidden onboard the tugboat’s barge when it was being towed into Singapore.

The foreign-registered tugboat and barge were seized as case exhibits.

Indonesian charged

Febry was charged on Nov. 11 for allegedly helping three people enter Singapore illegally.

He was handed one charge under the Immigration Act and remanded.

His case will be heard again on Nov. 18.

Investigations into the other seven crew members are ongoing.

If convicted, he can be jailed for up to two years and given at least three strokes of the cane.

Top photos via SPF