Riau Provincial Police and Malaysian Police Strengthen Cooperation to Prevent Transnational Crime
Riau Provincial Police Chief Inspector General Herry Heryawan conducted a strategic working visit to the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM). The visit was carried out to strengthen collaboration in handling cross-border crimes, particularly narcotics, terrorism, and other transnational crimes involving the Indonesia-Malaysia border areas.
During the agenda, Inspector General Herry Heryawan met directly with several elite units of the Royal Malaysia Police, ranging from the Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (JSJN), Special Branch E3, the counter-terrorism unit E8, to the Melaka Police Chief. The Riau Police Chief was accompanied by several key officials from the Riau Provincial Police, as well as Brigadier General Tubagus Ami Prindani from Polri’s Densus 88 AT and Commissioner Sunadi as the Head of the Riau Regional Task Force.
As part of the series of agendas, Police Chief Inspector General Herry Heryawan met with Malaysia’s JSJN, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Mat Zani Mohd Salahuddin Che Ali along with his team, attended by Senior Assistant Commissioner Jasmirol Jamaluddin, Senior Assistant Commissioner Mohd Afzanizam Yahaya, Assistant Commissioner Hairy Ramlan, Superintendent Saravanan, and Assistant Superintendent Suresh Elumalai. They discussed strengthening cooperation in handling narcotics criminal acts, including the exchange of intelligence information and cross-border telephone number analysis.
“This visit is intended to strengthen concrete collaboration, especially in facing the cross-border narcotics circulation. We want to build a faster, more precise, and real-time cooperation system between Indonesia and Malaysia,” said the Riau Police Chief on Thursday (9/4/2026).
In addition, both parties discussed the possibility of implementing hot pursuit against criminals fleeing across national borders, as part of more effective law enforcement efforts.
Discussing People Smuggling-Terrorism
In the meeting with Malaysia’s Special Branch E3, they discussed cross-border crime issues, ranging from narcotics, terrorism, to people smuggling. Illegal entry routes, including the Dumai waters area, became a joint concern for both countries. Inspector General Herry emphasised that handling narcotics is the top priority, given that most narcotics entry routes into Riau originate from abroad.
“We need information support from the Malaysian side because the nature of this crime is cross-border. Without strong cooperation, its handling will not be optimal,” said Inspector General Herry.
Besides criminality issues, the discussions covered environmental issues, particularly forest and land fires (karhutla) that have the potential for cross-border impacts. The Riau Provincial Police itself has taken preventive measures through the Fire-Free Village programme and law enforcement against dozens of forest burning perpetrators.
The Police Chief even invited the Malaysian side to conduct joint aerial patrols to directly observe the area conditions and anticipate the impact of regional haze.
The series of visits was also filled with greetings with Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador and Datuk Ing, who discussed reflections on terrorism handling cooperation and strengthening deradicalisation programmes.
Subsequently, the Riau Police Chief met with Malaysia’s counter-terrorism unit E8, which revealed a new phenomenon of radicalisation among young people, including through social media and online games.
Both parties agreed to increase vigilance and strengthen intelligence information exchange to detect potential threats early.
“Radicalisation is currently developing with new patterns targeting the younger generation. Therefore, intelligence cooperation is very important to prevent it from the outset,” he said.
The visit’s peak was concluded with a meeting with Melaka Police Chief Deputy Commissioner of Police Dzulkhairi Mukhtar. In that meeting, both parties reaffirmed the importance of strengthening security cooperation, including in handling karhutla, terrorism, and other cross-border crimes.
The 1996 Police Academy graduate also emphasised the historical and cultural closeness between Riau and Melaka as social capital in building closer collaboration.
“We are one Malay lineage. These greetings are not just meetings, but a way to unite goals in maintaining security and public order in our respective regions,” he said.
He also reminded of the importance of joint anticipation against the potential impacts of the El Nino phenomenon, which could increase forest fire risks and have cross-regional impacts, including to Malaysia.
Through this series of meetings, the Riau Police Chief affirmed his commitment to promoting the formation of a more integrated cooperation system, ranging from joint intelligence sharing, joint patrols, to cross-border training.
“We want this cooperation not to stop at meetings, but to continue into real actions in the field, to maintain regional security and protect the people of both countries,” he concluded.