LAHAD DATU – The Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) has detained 40 individuals involved in 25 cases related to the smuggling of drugs and cigarettes in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) over the past two months.
ESSCom commander Datuk Ahmad Fuad said the success was made possible by the operation to curb illegal immigrants on land, conducted since October 7, as the second line of defence after the sea operation.
“From the arrests, a total of RM3.17 million worth of drugs and RM1.05 million worth of cigarettes and smuggled controlled items were seized.
“ESSCom's achievements were made possible with the cooperation of the police and Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF),” he told reporters after a working visit to observe the eastern zone of the land-based operation at Tanjung Labian here today.
Fuad said that during the same period, 10 skippers and 58 illegal immigrants were also nabbed over various offences with total seizures worth RM1.19 million.
“Besides that, 33 Indonesian migrants were escorted out of the Malaysian border,” he said.
He said the smart deployment concept among security forces has enabled the sharing of expertise and logistics and radar facilities in an effective manner to monitor 62 hotspots in ESSZone under the land operation.
Meanwhile, he said the land operation initiative has managed to reduce the number of illegal entries and smuggling cases from neighbouring countries.
He said this has been proven by fewer suspicious boats detected by MAF’s radars in ESSZone waters. – Bernama, December 14, 2020
