ZAMBOANGA CITY: Two Malaysians were seized by five gunmen disguised as policemen from a palm-oil plantation in Sabah near the Philippine border, reports said.

It said that the two, who are cousins, were both working for the plantation in Lahad Datu, and had been taken at gunpoint last week. Their companions said that the gunmen spoke in Malayu and Tausug, a dialect commonly used in the southern provinces of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu.

There were no immediate reports of whether the foreigners are being held in either of the two provinces.

Malaysian media reported that the gunmen and their hostages fled on a speed boat painted blue and white and headed out to international waters.

It also quoted Sabah P/Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib as saying that the captives had been taken out of Malaysia. “We have identified the victims’ whereabouts. We have a rough idea where they are. They may be out of Malaysian waters,” Hamza said.

Hamza said that the kidnappers have not contacted any of the victims’ families or relatives.

In 2010, suspected Abu Sayyaf Group rebels kidnapped Malaysian seaweed farmers Vui Chung, 42, and Lai Wing Chau, 33, in Sabah’s Sem-porna town near Lahad Datu and ransomed them off for two million ringgits.

Rebels also kidnapped 21 Western tourists from Sabah’s island resort of Sipadan in 2001 and were freed months later after Libya and Malaysia paid huge ransoms to the Abu Sayyaf.