Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - Seventeen illegal immigrants from Afghanistan have been caught at Kukup beach in Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta province in Central Java.

Gunung Kidul Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Asep Nalaludin said here on Wednesday they came to the beach resort by bus.

During questioning "they said they came on a tour," he said but he believed they would cross to Christmas Island in Australia.

Asep said this was a new method. "Illegal immigrants now have more courage as shown by their arrival at the tourist resort which is visited by a lot of people. This case is different from the other," he said.

He said the illegal immigrants could not show any document and therefore they are now detained at a hotel in Kukup.

He said the police have monitored their presence since three days ago and "caught them at 11.30pm on Tuesday (Oct 18)."

He said the police would hand over the illegal immigrants to the local immigration office for further legal processing.

Besides arresting the illegal immigrants the police have also held six Indonesians and five ship crew believed to be involved in the case.

He said the six Indonesians came from Makasar, Tangerang and Kupang who were suspected to facilitate the illegal immigrants to cross to Christmas Island.

"We are still investigating the ship crew further because we suspect they are also involved in the case," Asep said.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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