KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysian authorities detained 114 Sri Lankans and two Indians allegedly on their way to Australia illegally, an official said Wednesday.

Muhammad Ali Abdullah, the assistant immigration director in Johor state said it was the first time immigration authorities have caught Sri Lankans in Johor, indicating that a new front has opened in the human trafficking of illegal immigrants to Australia, which has long been a magnet for people from poor Asian countries.

Muhammad Ali said the Sri Lankans and Indians were found hiding in several apartments on Tuesday. Subsequent investigations revealed they were waiting to be smuggled aboard boats via Indonesia to Australia for a fee of $13,000 each, he said.

Among the Sri Lankans were 14 children - the youngest aged 7 months - and 34 women.

Only about a quarter of them had passports, showing they had flown into Malaysia about three months ago and had overstayed their visas. The others had no passports, and all may face charges for being in Malaysia illegally, Muhammad Ali said.

Police are hunting for the traffickers who kept the South Asians in the apartment, he said.