Indonesian people smugglers jailed

Indonesian people smugglers jailed

PERTH, Australia (AFP): Fifteen Indonesian people smugglers were jailed on Tuesday for periods of up to five and a half years.

The penalties were imposed in the District Court in Broome, a pearling port in the far north of Western Australia, by Judge Peter Blaxell.

All 15 men jailed were fishermen who pleaded guilty last week to dropping 346 boat people from vessels at Ashmore Reef, on the northern Western Australian coast, between October and November last year.

The toughest penalties were imposed on two captains. Skipper Hanafi Laduma, 43, was jailed for five and a half years, while skipper Ridwan Wahab, 30, was imprisoned for five years.