Mr Lauhenapessy, also referred to as 'Captain Bram' has been implicated in the smuggling of over 1500 Sri Lankans from Sri Lanka via Indonesia to Australia. One of these ventures involved the arrival of SIEV 20, a migrant smuggling vessel that brought 83 smuggled migrants to Australia on 20 February 2007 (AUS-S-0020 on this database). He was also implicated in the smuglging of Sri Lankan nationals on board the 'Ocean Lady', that arrived in British Columbia, Canada in 2009 (CAN-S-OceanLady).

Mr Louhenapessy ihas been under investigation in connection to migrant smuggling in Southeast Asia for some time. n 2001, Operation Snakehead, an investigation involving Australian and Cambodian agencies, foiled an attempt to send a boatload of 241 Pakistani and Afghan nationals to Australia. Mr Louhenapessy was to be the captain of this the boat.
An attempt to arrest him during a police operation in Sihanoukville, Cambodia in July 2001 failed, and Mr Lauhenapessy was returned to Indonesia after 'intense lobbying by the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh'.

His arrest in June 2007 was made possible by a joint investigation between the AFP and the Indonesian National Police. Following this arrest, Australian Government sources ruled out any extradition to Australia as 'there was no indication that [Mr Louhenapessy] has committed any offence under Australian law.' He was later charged with offences relating to 'hiding, protecting, harbouring or providing livelihood to people known to have entered Indonesia illegally' under Indonesia's Migration Act (see further 'Procedural History'). Shortly after his release from custody in June 2009, Mr Lauhenapessy became involved in migrant smuggling activities again. According to newspaper reports, he began to organise an operation to take asylum seekers from Malaysia to Australia. By October 2009, he had organised a 'creaking, 30-metre wooden cargo boat' which left Malaysia on October 1 for Australia carrying 254 Sri Lankan nationals and one person from Myanmar. After stopping at the Indonesian island of Batam, the vessel, named Jaya Lestari 5, which carried only 18 life jackets and little food and water, had to be turned around 'into the path of an Indonesian Navy vessel' as the plan to meet a smaller boat onto which the passengers were to be transferred did not materialise. Indonesian authorities, who had monitored his activities since June, intercepted the vessel on October 11 2009 and found Mr Louhenapessy on board. According to some sources, the interception of the Jaya Lestari 5 was triggered by a request of then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to the Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He was then arrested and, along with the vessel, taken to Merak in western Java, where the passengers refused to leave the vessel for several months. Mr Louhenapessy was later released and returned to his home in Jakarta after being charged with minor offences under Indonesian maritime laws. Indonesia had no migrant smuggling offences at that time. On 24 March 2010, he was found guilty of 'hiring crew who lacked proper documents', fined 25 million rupiah and placed on probation for 18 months. In April 2010, unconfirmed reports emerged that Mr Louhenapessy was again organising boats to carry asylum seekers to Australia.

Mr Babu was the associate of Mr Lauhenapessy and is suspected of coordinating the illegal entry of hundreds of Sri Lankans into Indonesia. He has also been implicated in the arrival of SIVE 20, a migrant smuggling vessel that brought 83 smuggled migrants to Australia on 20 February 2007 (AUS-S-0020 on this database).

Mr Babu was arrested by the INP in Indonesia on 7 May 2007.