Police going undercover to close gaps in Malaysia-Thailand border
KOTA BHARU: The Kelantan police will increase the number of undercover intelligence officers in the border area soon to combat cross-border crime that continues to occur despite tightened security controls.
Kelantan police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said the matter would be discussed with General Operations Force (GOF) Southeast Brigade commander, Datuk Nik Ros Azhan Nik Ab Hamid, in a meeting on Wednesday (June 11).
He said this action was deemed necessary since cross-border crime was still occurring, although the detected cases were isolated.
"There are arrests almost every day. So, we will change the operational method by increasing the number of plainclothes intelligence units, involving GOF members and police, to patrol the border area," he said.
"The approach is being taken because most people only feel intimidated when they see the presence of uniformed security personnel, while criminals can take advantage of locations with little visible security surveillance," he said after attending the Kelantan Contingent Ibadah Korban event at the Kelantan contingent police headquarters here on Tuesday (June 10).
Commenting further, he explained that the distance between the GOF control posts, which can be as far as two to three km apart, is also why smugglers can still slip through incognito.
"The Malaysia-Thailand border spans 136km, while the area under Kelantan police surveillance is 91km. Hence, it is not easy to monitor it completely because each post is far apart.
"The big gaps open up space for people to commit cross-border crimes unnoticed, since crossing the river by boat only takes a minute," he said.
According to him, in the one-week period from May 31 to June 8, a total of 13 arrests related to cross-border crimes were made under Section 5(2) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
"The most common reasons often given by perpetrators are to visit family, retrieve vehicle keys and so on. Only two cases (a few) involved entertainment-related purposes,' he said.- Bernama
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