22 linked to cross border criminals rounded up
Published on: Friday, May 13, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Twenty two men aged between 25 and 75 who are suspected to be involved with cross border criminals have been arrested in several locations in the State. It is also believed that they may be linked to the Royal Sulu Force that briefly invaded Tanduo in the east coast three years ago. State Police Commissioner Datuk Abd Rashid Harun on Thursday said about 20 people were nabbed in the East Coast area last Saturday, while the other two in the West Coast the next day.
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The arrests were made during an Ops Gasak 3 operation which is a combined effort between security enforcement agencies including Eastern Sabah Security Command, personally led by Abd Rashid since Friday. "We arrested 20 people in Tanjung Labian, Sungai Bilis, Tanjung Batu and Lahad Datu, while two more were nabbed in the West Coast," he said. He said among those arrested involved Malaysian citizens, as well as those with foreign documents who are believed to have been indirectly and directly involved in cross border crimes, including acting as informants to cross border criminals. The arrests were made at several housing areas while some were nabbed at sea.
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Meanwhile, State Criminal Investigation Department Chief Datuk Salehhudin Abdul Rahman said 10 of those nabbed were Malaysian citizens, while nine were without documents, one with a Malaysian birth certificate and another with a visit pass issued from the Philippines. On whether the two arrested in Ranau had any connection with those arrested in the East Coast, he said they are investigating from every angle including if they are linked to the Royal Sulu Force.
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Earlier this year, six people, including a woman, believed to be masterminds in assisting and channelling information to cross border criminals, were also arrested during an integrated operation at the refugee settlement and surrounding squatter areas in Telipok.The six suspects were among 520 illegals nabbed during the operation which saw 4,794 people rounded up for a documentation process in the operation which took place on Feb 13. In early 2013, a group of armed Sulu intruders who claimed to be the members of the Royal Sulu Force landed in Kg Tanduo, in Lahad Datu. The village became the subject of infamy as it was where the trail of bloodshed began in the Lahad Datu intrusion episode after the first exchange of fire between the Malaysian security forces and the intruders on March 1, 2013, resulting in the deaths of two VAT69 commandos.On, March 3, 2013, the armed gunmen ambushed a police team during a surveillance operation at Kg Sri Jaya Simunul in Semporna killing six more policemen. In another subsequent ambush in Sungai Nyamuk in Tanjung Batu, a soldier was killed.The intruders were eventually flushed out and Tanduo was turned into an army camp on March 15, 2013 under the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom), in a bid to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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