The General Operations Force (GOF) and the Marine Police Force have intensified land and water patrols as well as at 'rat lanes' following a directive by the Inspector-General of Police to thwart entry of illegal immigrants and to curb the spread of COVID-19.

GOF Seventh Battalion commanding officer Supt Azhari Nusi said, following the directive his team had also increased its personnel to 550 compared to 300 before this to fully control the border.

He said in addition to foot patrols, roadblocks, border intelligence and monitoring of 88 illegal bases, they have now increased the number of motorcycle patrols.

"Before this, we used 15 motorcycles to carry out patrol duties, but now it has been increased to 35," he told reporters after patrolling the waters of Sungai Golok together with the Pengkalan Kubor region 3 Marine Police Force here, today.

The motorcycle patrolling exercise covers roads, villages and illegal bases around Rantau Panjang Jeram Perdah and Kuala Jambu he said, adding that it was aimed at preventing human trafficking and cross-border crime.

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country has forced enforcement agencies along the Malaysia-Thailand border to tighten control especially in the second phase of the Movement Control Order (MCO).

Azhari said since taking over the border control task on March 16, to date, the GOF Seventh Battalion had recorded 19 attempted entry into the country with the arrest of six individuals and a total amount of seizure worth RM581,082.

-- BERNAMA