KOTA KINABALU - Locals in Semporna are believed to have harboured the two slain informants who helped a group of kidnappers in the latest Indonesian fishermen abduction there on Sept. 11, a top security official said.
Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) Chief Dato' Hazani Ghazali said these locals had been harbouring the informants, who are suspected to have been long-time illegal immigrants in Sabah.
"We believe locals were involved in harbouring, protecting or helping the 'tali barut' (informants) whom we killed in our operation on Sept. 20 in Kunak," Hazani told Daily Express.
"These locals are usually traders of contraband things such as cigarettes. We are aware of this and we want to warn them they will face the consequences of their action when we catch them."
A multi-unit police team conducted the raid that nailed the informants at about 11pm at Kg Kunak Tiga, a water village, after a tip-off.
During the operation, a pump boat sped towards open waters, prompting the police team to give chase.
Exchanges of fire ensured during the 30-minute sea chase which ended in the killing of the two unidentified illegal Filipinos, aged in their 50s, and seizure of their pump boat.
During a press conference on the success of the operation, Hazani said the agency believes the men had acted as "spotters" for the armed group which kidnapped the Indonesian fishermen.
The operation was carried out following Daily Express' exclusive revealing the fact that illegals had worked as snitches for the kidnappers.
Two other Indonesian crew members of the fishing trawlers were spared after they hid in some compartments in the vessel.
In an another earlier exclusive, Daily Express reported that the fishermen had been taken by their abductors to Talipao in the southern Philippine province of Sulu.
Talipao has been used in the past by the Abu Sayyaf group as a base for their kidnapping operations.
Hazani said the latest kidnapping could have been carried out to finance the Abu Sayyaf's militant and criminal operations in southern Philippines.
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