Malaysian marine police said today they had discovered a new human trafficking route, via neighbouring Singapore's Changi airport, after detaining 10 Afghans being smuggled to Indonesia.

Southern marine police chief Khamsani Abdul Rahman told AFP the Afghans were captured after police chased a boat off Johor early Friday.

"The smugglers usually bring in the illegals through Kuala Lumpur International Airport and then sneak them out illegally into Indonesia and on to Australia but traffickers have changed this route recently," Khamsani said.

He said syndicates were now flying Afghans to Changi, Singapore's international airport, "and then take them across the causeway into Malaysia before being smuggled out to Indonesia."

Khamsani said the 10 detained Afghans had destroyed their identification papers and passports, making investigations into their case more difficult.

- AFP