CYBERJAYA: The Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA) needs to be widely applied to crack down on syndicate-related criminal activities in the country as a whole, said Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.

Sharing his thoughts as a panelist at the National Border Security Seminar 2023 here today, he said SOSMA's effectiveness could be seen, among others, in the successful efforts taken to curb human trafficking syndicates while he was the Johor police chief.

"At that time, the use of SOSMA was effective in combatting these syndicates, and the arrests not only included the smugglers but also enforcement officers in cahoots with the syndicates," he said.

Meanwhile, Ayob Khan felt current laws on cigarette and liquor smuggling were less effective in curbing the activity.

"Like in Johor before this, police arrested the same individual 10 times over the same case. SOSMA must be used for crimes involving syndicates, it is only then we can arrest and cripple them," he said.

SOSMA provides for special measures relating to offences against the country to maintain public order and security.

It was first proposed in 2012 to replace the Internal Security Act 1960, which allows for detention without trial and which has since been repealed.

In August, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Ramkarpal Singh said the government's efforts to look into improving SOSMA were almost complete.

In another matter, Ayob Khan said he would not compromise where integrity involving enforcement officers was concerned, and cited the fact that he had once arrested a narcotics criminal investigation department chief involved with drug syndicates.

-- BERNAMA