The rapid economic growth and the frequent movement of people at the Malaysia-Thailand border have contributed to the increase of smuggling activities, especially of firearms.

The smuggling of firearms is even reported to have been rampant at the border area, and fast becoming the hot topic of discussions, especially with the rise in murder and attempted murder cases involving firearms.

The 640km Malaysia-Thailand border area, which comprises 551km of land border and the remaining being maritime border, has been the centre of smuggling activities operated by triads and syndicates in both countries.

Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department deputy director (Intelligence/ Operations) Datuk Mazlan Mansor said several weaknesss in the border enforcement and inspections had been identified as the factors for the increase in the smuggling activities.

He said police intelligence also found that inspections at the Malaysia-Thailand border area were done at random, hence allowing criminals to smuggle firearms quite easily.

However, Mazlan said the security forces should not be blamed as they were forced to resort to doing random inspections by the rapid economic growth at the border area.

"There was a time when a security team, comprising police and Customs personnel, carried out detailed inspections on buses and lorries, and it had caused kilometres of traffic jams.

"As a result, local residents and business communities had also lodged reports and complaints against us," he told Bernama recently.

Mazlan said the existence of rat routes near the border in Sungai Golok had also helped increase the smuggling activities.

"The Golok river is not that big. Outside the monsoon season, some people can cross the river easily without using a boat. This is one of the factors that has increased smuggling activities in the country," he said.

In a bid to overcome the problem, Mazlan said the government must take a concrete action to empower border enforcement, besides tightening several existing regulations and laws.

He said the police had also formulated new strategies, including to strengthen its intelligence operations at the border, as well as to increase cooperation with the Armed Forces, Customs Department and the Anti-Smuggling Unit.

He also lauded the implementation of the crime prevention operation, dubbed Ops Cantas, as it had deter the violent criminals from being too active.

A total of 573 smuggled firearms have also been seized during the operation so far, including 212 semi-automatic pistols, 134 home-made pistols, 80 revolvers, 15 hand grenades, 14 pump guns and 71 air pistols, he said.

While proposing that all law enforcement agencies working in the border reinforce each others' strengths, Mazlan said they also need to exchange information with the Thai authorities.

"I think the relevant authorities can also launch a psychological war to educate the public, especially in the border area, not to deal with the smugglers," he added.