Malaysia Update

Sergeant Abdullah Ibrahim with a marine police patrol boat used for operations in Sandakan.

He had been the scourge in the waters off the east coast of Sabah, the Philippines and Indonesia until he had a run-in with Sergeant Abdullah Ibrahim, writes FADHAL A. GHANI.

MOLOY Hijang was as ruthless as they come and this pirate had successfully evaded the marine police of Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia for more than a decade.

Ironically, it was small pickings on that day in Oct 7, 1996, that ended his reign of terror.

Fishermen Ibrahim Albani, 31, and Aripuddin Bachok, 38, were checking their fish traps at Pulau Tobanka, off Sandakan, about 8.30pm when Moloy, also known as Moloy Uwah, and three other pirates came in two speedboats.

The fishermen did not have any valuables on them but Moloy was not to be denied. The pirates unhitched the fishermen's outboard engine and made off with it.
A police report was lodged in Sandakan and the marine police informed of the pirates' last location.

The marine police patrol boat, with corporal Abdullah Ahmad in command and Abdullah Ibrahim, then a corporal, and four constables set out early the next morning.

It was not long before Moloy and his men were spotted in the waters off Segama at 7am.

The marine police boat came up close and Abdullah Ibrahim, using a megaphone, ordered the pirates to surrender.

However, the pirates opened fire. Luckily, none of the marine police officers were injured.

"The bullets whizzed past me. It was a close shave," said Abdullah Ibrahim who joined the force on Aug 15, 1981.

Meanwhile, the pirates headed towards the Philippines at full throttle with the marine police patrol boat giving chase.

"Before this, I had been involved in two sea battles with pirates and I put all this experience to use to apprehend Moloy and his men," said Abdullah Ibrahim.

"I was not only in charge of the patrol boat but I also doubled up as the engineer and I had to back up my men with a machine gun."

The four marine police officers were armed with M-16s.

The sea was rough, the waves were heavy and visibility was poor during the high-speed chase.

"We had to circle their boats to prevent them from escaping. In the one kilometre or so, we managed to circle them several times.

"Each time we circled them, a gun battle erupted and in the end, we shot dead Moloy and another pirate."

The other boat managed to escape into Philippines waters.

Marine police recovered an assortment of explosive devices, an M-16 rifle equipped with a grenade launcher, a Browning pistol, ski masks, binoculars and the outboard engine they had stolen.

For bringing down the fearful pirate, the Batu Pahat-born Abdullah Ibrahim was awarded the police Bravery Medal on May 1, 1998.

Abdullah Ibrahim, who has been with Sandakan marine police since Jan 1, 1983, is married with five children between the ages of 4 and 17.

Today, the 47-year-old Abdullah Ibrahim heads the Engineering Maintenance Department at the Sandakan base.