IPOH – Police have not ruled out the possibility that tighter surveillance and control at the Malaysia-Thailand border in Perlis and Kedah will push smuggling syndicates to the Pengkalan Hulu-Betong border in Perak.
Perak police chief Datuk Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said the Pengkalan Hulu-Betong border receives less attention from smugglers as the area is hilly and covered with thick jungle.
“That’s why this border area is not the main choice for smuggling activities, but we are not ruling out the possibility that the route may become a hotspot after this and, of course, we are constantly tightening control through cooperation with several other security agencies.
“The distance between the border gate in Pengkalan Hulu and the nearest town in the neighbouring country, namely Bentong, is only 700m, hence the tight control,” he said at the Perak police contingent headquarters here recently.
Mior Faridalathrash said security and monitoring assignments along the border, which has 12km-long wall and 11.4km-long barbed wire fence, also involves other agencies, such as the Malaysian Armed Forces, the Malaysian Border Security, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department and the Immigration Department.
He said those wishing to enter the border area must pass through a roadblock at the Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security complex in Bukit Berapit, Pengkalan Hulu, which is also assisted by the 14th Battalion of the General Operations Force.
Mior Faridalathrash, however, admitted that small-scale smuggling activities still occur at the border, especially involving food items, such as cooking oil, wheat flour, sugar, milk and Thai rice apart from ketum, drugs and firearms.
He said from January to September this year, 14 smuggling cases were recorded involving the arrest of nine individuals, including a foreign national.
“Among the items seized were three vehicles, 117,316 cigarettes and more than 1,000 litres of liquor with a total seizure worth RM330,537,” he said.
On whether security forces at Perak's borders have ever received threats or been attacked by smugglers, Mior Faridalathrash said police have not received any reports of such incidents so far.
Meanwhile, he said police have also increased intelligence activities to combat ketum-smuggling activities along Jalan Raya Timur Barat (JRTB) Gerik-Jeli. – Bernama, December 3, 2020
