The police coast guard detected the three men swimming towards Singapore from Malaysia about 11pm.

Twenty minutes later, the men were successfully intercepted and arrested.

They were aged between 22 and 29. Their nationality was not revealed.

If convicted of unlawful entry into Singapore, they face up to six months’ jail and at least three strokes of the cane.

There have been many cases of foreigners attempting to cross to Malaysia or Singapore by swimming across the polluted waters.

At certain places, the two countries are separated by about 1,000 metres.

Most of those attempting to swim to Malaysia had overstayed and feared punishment.