Police in Kupang name seven suspected people smugglers after intercepting a boat carrying Chinese and Indonesian people they believe were headed to Australia.
Indonesia n police have named seven men as people smuggling suspects after intercepting a boat this week.It was potentially Indonesia 's third interception this year of groups of Chinese people trying to get to Australia by boat.
The interception took place on Wednesday in the harbour at Kupang, a traditional departure point in West Timor, part of East Nusa Tenggara province, and involved a boat carrying six Chinese men along with a larger group of Indonesians.Local police say the Chinese men arrived in Kupang after travelling by sea from south Sulawesi, about 900 kilometres to the north.
This latest interception follows a similar incident in March involving police stopping a group of 10 men and one woman from China on Rote island, near Kupang. A fisherman in Kupang told the ABC Australian Federal Police officers visited the city this year and regularly made contact to ask if any people were seeking to travel to Australia.
The revelation of a fresh interception of people seeking to travel to Australia by boat in Indonesia comes as the issue of people smuggling regains prominence in the bilateral relationship.
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