Malaysia, Indonesia to curb transborder crime

Malaysia, Indonesia to curb transborder crime

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian police pledged on Wednesday to step up efforts with
Indonesia to battle transborder crime and tame syndicates
operating at their joint border after scoring some "major
successes".

Joint border operations in Sabah and Sarawak states on Borneo
island will focus on tackling illegal logging and smuggling of
firearms, said Internal Security and Public Order assistant
director Kamalul Azmi Darus.

Joint patrols by marine police in the busy Straits of Malacca
will focus on closing illegal entry points used by immigrants and
smugglers of contraband, he was quoted as saying by the official
Bernama news agency.

"Lately, we had scored some major successes in crippling
several syndicates through such cooperation especially with the
Malaysian police's effort in reducing the number of vehicles
being smuggled into Indonesia," he said.

He was speaking after opening a four-day joint operation
meeting here between Malaysian and Indonesian police.

Kamalul said the meeting would discuss how enforcement
agencies in both countries could be more effective in their
operations against syndicates based near key border towns and
coastal areas.

They will also exchange intelligence and seek to improve links
by appointing more officers at border towns and ports, he said.

"Crackdowns on illegal bases were not much effective mainly
due to the location of the bases and our efforts in trailing them
are made much more difficult whenever they cross the common
border," he said.

Such problems could be minimized if enforcement agencies agree
on a system to alert each other, or close all escape routes, he
added.