The four-and-a-half hour operation, in collaboration with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), ended at 2.30am on Saturday.

The suspects, aged between 20 and 39, comprised 13 men and 10 women.

One female suspect was detained in a hotel room with three men while some other couples claimed that they were siblings or engaged to avoid being arrested.

Twenty-one people would be investigated under Section 31 of the Syariah Crime Offences (Takzir)(Terengganu) Enactment 2001 for “close proximity” and the rest under Section 34 of the same enactment for behaving indecently in public.

Upon conviction, they could be fined up to RM3,000 or imprisoned two years, or both.

State religious affairs commissioner Wan Mohd Wan Ibrahim told Bernama that JHEAT would always monitor activities that contradicted Islamic teachings on the islands off Terengganu from time to time.

“Do not try to make the islands in Terengganu locations to commit acts of immorality or to avoid being caught by the authorities. Such acts will only tarnish the image of the islands in Terengganu,” he said.