However, the illegals immigrants have not been deterred with 58 vessels being chased away from Singapore's borders in the first three months of this year, up from 27 in the same period in 2007.

The police coast guard's elite team ambushed and scuttled 15 intrusions by sea between January and March this year. Thirty-five people were caught and 8,100 cartons of contraband cigarettes were seized. In the same period last year, there were only seven interception operations, with 46 people arrested and 4,620 cartons of cigarettes seized.

Police coast guard commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police Teo Kian Teck told reporters that intruders can be dangerous.

'They resort to dangerous manoeuvering in darkness when they are being pursued and even lead our boats to hazards including kelong and fish farms,' he said.

The coast guard is beefing up its arsenal of weapons to help catch illegal immigrants taking the sea route into Singapore, including putting up anti-intrusion barriers to cut off the Republic's porous shores from the crooks.

The extra ring barriers are in addition to the 28km of fences that already exist along the coastline.

The coast guard's operations and security head, deputy Superintendent Alan Xavier Tan said intruders usually take about two minutes to travel in small motorised boats from the nearby shores of Johor, Malaysia, which can be as close as 600m away from Singapore's shores.

But the coast guard is well equipped to out-manouevre the boatmen with its high speed chase boats, enhanced radar systems on patrol vessels and night vision capability

"If the presence of our patrol vessels still does not deter them from entering Singapore waters, we will be sure to ambush and intercept them within seconds," said Deputy Superintendent Tan.