Kenyan police in the coastal town of Lamu have arrested five suspected Somali pirates who were heading towards Kiunga near the country border with Somalia.

The pirates had claimed to have swam to the shores when their boat capsized on Saturday, but their explanation was not well received by the security personnel, who suspected that the five were on a mission to attack ships in the deep seas.

According to the Lamu police boss, Samson Ole Kinne, the suspects were found, on Saturday, at Baragoni area some 25 km from Mokowe jetty by the officers.

Their arrest comes barely two days after another batch of suspected pirates attempted to attack a naval ship, leading to the shooting of three men, and arrest of two, the following day.

"The explanation given to us is that they were on a fishing expedition when their boat capsized, but we don't buy it," Ole Kinne.

The senior police boss said despite the claims that the suspects had swam to shore, after their boat developed mechanical problems and capsized, they still had on them their cloths and shoes.

"I do not think it is possible for someone to swim with the shoes on, and all the cloths, considering they had capsized in the deep seas," he said.

The officer said the men, aged between 20 and 25 years, did not look exhausted and further dismissed the 'swimming' theory.

The group is being detained at the Lamu police station and will be arraigned in court as soon as an interpreter is sought.

They will however be charged with being in the country illegally and failing to register themselves as aliens, with the police boss, saying there were no sufficient grounds to prosecute them for piracy.

"Trying them for piracy cannot hold, as much as we do not trust their version, there is nothing much we can do since we have no evidence," Ole Kinne said.

At the same time, the police boss revealed that the two piracy suspects arrested by the naval officers in Kiunga, after they attacked their ship, have been ferried to Lamu from Kiunga.

Ole Kinne said the duo will be handed over to the Criminal Investigative department (CID) in Mombasa, for commencement of investigations, before being charged in court.

Meanwhile, Kenya moved 100 Somali immigrants held in various police cells to northeastern town of Garissa.

Sources told Xinhua on Monday that some 139 illegal immigrants who had been arrested in different parts of the country, and charged with being in the country illegally, were transported in two lorries from Mombasa town to Garissa on Sunday night.

The group included some 17 piracy suspects who were acquitted two weeks ago, by resident magistrate Michael Kizito, and later re-arrested and were to be charged with being in the country illegally.

However, Chief Magistrate Rosemelle Mutoka objected the manner in which the prosecution had handled the suspects, and ordered that they be repatriated back to their country.

The Coast region prisons commander, James Kodiany, confirmed that once in Garissa, the immigrants may be transferred to different destinations including refugee camps and neighbouring countries.