On December 17, 2025, a Singapore court sentenced 23-year-old Febry Iswanto, an Indonesian national, to eight months in prison and three strokes of the cane. The sentencing followed his guilty plea to charges under the Immigration Act for intentionally aiding individuals to enter Singapore illegally. The court heard that Febry, who worked on an Indonesian-registered tugboat, facilitated the illegal entry of five unidentified individuals over two separate occasions in August and October of 2024.
The background of the case reveals that Febry began working on a tugboat that towed a barge in March 2024. During his employment, he became acquainted with a fellow worker named Jefryansyah. Although Jefryansyah was terminated from the company last year due to poor performance, he remained in contact with Febry. In August 2024, Jefryansyah reached out to Febry via text message with a proposition to smuggle people into Singapore. For every person successfully brought into the country, Febry was promised 1.5 million rupiah, which is approximately 115 Singapore dollars.
Despite knowing that the act was illegal, Febry accepted the offer. His primary motivation was financial, specifically to fund his personal hobby of modifying his motorcycle. To keep their activities secret, the two men utilized a specific communication strategy. They referred to the stowaways as kambing, the Indonesian word for goat, to ensure that bystanders or other crew members would not understand the true nature of their conversations.
The first smuggling operation took place between August 28 and August 29, 2024. While the tugboat and barge were in Indonesian waters en route to Singapore, a sampan pulled alongside the vessels. Two unidentified individuals boarded and were hidden by Febry inside the anchor compartment. The vessels eventually docked at the Pulau Punggol Aggregate Terminal on August 30 to unload a cargo of granite. In the early hours of August 31, at approximately 2.45am, Febry executed the final stage of the plan. He intentionally turned off the vessel’s floodlights to create a cover of darkness. He then signaled the two individuals to leave their hiding spot and instructed them to swim to mainland Singapore and seek refuge in a forested area.
Following this first operation, Febry was informed by Jefryansyah that only one of the two individuals had successfully reached a safe location. Consequently, Febry was only paid 1 million rupiah instead of the full promised amount.
In October 2024, Jefryansyah contacted Febry again for a second operation involving three more people. Similar to the first instance, the stowaways boarded the vessel from a sampan on October 25 and hid in the anchor compartment. The vessel arrived at the Pulau Punggol Aggregate Terminal the same day, and the three individuals disembarked under Febry's assistance during the early hours of October 26. Interestingly, Febry did not receive any payment for this second trip, though the reasons for the non-payment were not disclosed in court.
The illicit activities were eventually uncovered following an investigation by the Police Coast Guard. Acting on information regarding the illegal entries, authorities arrested the crew on November 9, 2024. During the court proceedings, the prosecution emphasized that Febry’s actions were premeditated and motivated purely by greed. The use of code words and the deliberate choice to release the individuals under the cover of night were cited as evidence of a calculated attempt to evade detection.
In his mitigation plea, Febry, speaking through an interpreter, requested the lightest possible sentence. He claimed that he was the only child in his family and was responsible for contributing to their financial needs. He also expressed remorse and promised the court that he would not commit any further offences. Under Singapore law, the penalty for aiding illegal entry is a mandatory prison sentence of six months to two years, along with a minimum of three strokes of the cane. The five individuals smuggled by Febry have not been identified and remain at large.
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