The police today intercepted two boats from Thailand and one from Vietnam and detained a total of 26 crew members for illegal fishing, officials said.

The Thai boats with 13 crewmen were caught in Malaysian waters off the north-eastern Kelantan and Terengganu coasts Monday, said Fisheries Department spokesman Zakaria Abdul Rahman.

All the fishermen, aged between 19 and 45, were from Songkhla, he told the official Bernama news agency.

They would be charged with illegal fishing Tuesday and could be fined between RM100,000 ringgit and a RM1 million each if convicted, he said.

The 13 Vietnamese fishermen were detained in waters near Pualu Kapas island, also off the north-eastern coast, on Sunday. They were from Kien Giang and would also be charged, Bernama reported.