S'pore steps up coastal patrols

S'pore steps up coastal patrols

SINGAPORE (AP): Singapore authorities are stepping up coastal
patrols in the country's northern waters to guard against illegal
immigration and other problems such as piracy, police said on
Friday.

Singapore police spokesman Stanley Norbert said illegal
immigration was on the rise, but said he could not immediately
release statistics on the increase or the nationalities of people
trying to sneak into the wealthy Southeast Asian city-state.

The island of Singapore is separated by narrow straits from
Malaysia to the north and Indonesia to the south. Norbert said
the increased patrols are mainly aimed at illegal immigrants, but
that preventing piracy in Singapore waters was also a goal.

Nearly two-thirds of the 68 incidents of piracy reported
worldwide in the first three months of this year occurred in
Southeast Asian waters, according to the latest statistics from
the Malaysia-based International Maritime Bureau's Piracy
Reporting Center.