Police dismiss VIP escort claims after viral video found to be edited

POLICE have dismissed claims circulating on social media that a Royal Malaysia Police four-wheel-drive vehicle was escorting a convoy of foreign nationals allegedly receiving VIP treatment, saying investigations indicate the viral footage was manipulated and taken out of context.

Acting Melaka Tengah District Police Chief Superintendent Halim Abas said checks conducted by the authorities found that the video was believed to have been edited by merging two recordings captured at different locations, creating a misleading impression among the public.

According to Halim, the footage showing a police four-wheel-drive vehicle emerging from a junction was genuinely recorded near Masjid Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakub in Tanjung Minyak. However, he stressed that officers in the vehicle were not escorting any convoy at the time.

He explained that several other vehicles happened to be leaving the area simultaneously, giving rise to inaccurate assumptions once the footage was combined with unrelated recordings.

“Through the video, the footage showing vehicles belonging to foreign nationals is believed to have been recorded at a different location and not in Tanjung Minyak as claimed in comments accompanying the viral video.

“If examined carefully, the images and background locations in both recordings are different,” he said when contacted today.

Halim added that investigators believe the video was deliberately edited by combining two separate situations, resulting in an inaccurate public perception of events.

The clarification follows the circulation of a 28-second TikTok video that questioned the presence of a police vehicle alongside several vehicles purportedly owned by foreign nationals. The post suggested the group had been afforded special VIP treatment.

The clip also featured footage of several vehicles believed to belong to foreign nationals gathered on an area of red earth before being combined with the separate recording of the police vehicle in Tanjung Minyak.

Police have urged the public to scrutinise online content carefully and avoid drawing conclusions based on edited or unverified videos that may distort the actual circumstances of an incident. - June 1, 2026