Malaysia very transparent on human trafficking - IGP

Malaysia has always been transparent and has never hidden any cross-border crimes from the world, especially when it comes to human trafficking cases, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.

He said this was the reason country now remained on the Tier 2 Watch List in the United States' Department of Trafficking in Persons, despite being placed on Tier 3 at one point.

"We do not know whether we might be placed back on Tier 3 following the discovery of 159 graves and transit camps set up by human trafficking syndicates in Bukit Wang Burma, Wang Kelian near Padang Besar in May last year.

"We will continue to go all out to combat human trafficking and cross-border issues," he told a press conference after delivering the keynote address at the Crime and Border Issues Meeting at Perlis Police's Senior Officers' Mess here today.

Khalid said the authorities have conducted investigations, determined the syndicates involved, as well as shared information with Aseanapol (ASEAN's equivalent of Interpol).

"Bukit Wang Burma is now a training ground for our commandos. With their presence at all times, it is not possible for the syndicates to turn to the activity again using Bukit Wang Burma as a route," he added.

On religious extremists, Khalid said police were consistent in taking action against any group that is a threat to national security and had asked all state Islamic religious councils to ban such groups.

"Police will not compromise on deviant religious groups regardless of whether they are made up Buddhists, Hindus or others," he said, adding that the existing laws in the country were adequate to tackle any threat.

In his keynote address, Khalid said the Sulu armed intrusion in Lahad Datu in 2013 and the discovery of mass graves of human trafficking victims in Bukit Wang Burma last year had put Malaysia under the world's watch.

"The discovery of mass graves had detrimental effects on the syndicates' activities as we have taken drastic action so that Malaysia's borders will not be used as routes by smugglers and illegal immigrants," he said.

He said there were 56 fish farms in Perak used for human trafficking activities while in Johor, among the hotspots were in Kota Tinggi, Pengerang, Ulu Tiram and Pontian.

The authorities had also detected some 76 routes along the Sarawak-Kalimantan border while Sabah and Philippines' waters were prone to kidnapping, piracy and terrorism activities due to its broad area, he said.

He said in battling human trafficking issues, police had identified several syndicates that were still active and their modus operandi..

"Four of them had 20 networks involving Thais, Bangladeshis, Myanmars and Malaysians. These syndicates are active in Perlis while in Kedah, there are three syndicates with 17 networks," he added.

Khalid also said there are 128 illegal jetties in Kelantan used for such activities between Pangkalan Kubor and Rantau Panjang, stretching some 29 kilometres.

Of the number, he said 111 were still active.

He also said police uncovered syndicates that smuggled Chinese nationals out of Malaysia to third countries using fake or original Malaysian passports following the arrest of two immigration officers recently.

Police, he said, are now using drones to conduct surveillance on areas that are difficult to reach such as Bukit Wang Burma.

Khalid also mentioned that 1,200 Automated Enforcement System (AES) cameras would be installed at expressways nationwide but he did not divulge the details.