Kelantan deputy director of maritime operations Khairun Dalilah Baharin said the first boat was detected at 1.25pm with 18 crew members, including the skipper, while the second with five people was detected at 2pm.

“Inspections found that the two boats did not have permits to fish under the Fisheries Act 1985.

“All 23 crew members from the two boats are Vietnamese citizens, aged between 18 and 47, and do not have any valid identity documents,” she said at a press conference at the Kelantan Maritime office here today.

She added that all the suspects tested negative for Covid-19.

Khairun said they also seized two boats, about 1,000kg of fish, fishing equipment and 1,700 litres of diesel supply with a total value of about RM3 million.

“The case will be investigated under Section 15 (1) (a) of the Fisheries Act 1985 for fishing or attempting to catch fish without the permission of the director-general of the Fisheries Department of Malaysia and Section 16 (3) of the same act,” she said.