MMEA And Thailand Maritime Urged To Enhance Cooperation To Combat Maritime Crime

By Zainal Abdul Jalil SATUN (Southern Thailand), June 2 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and the Thailand maritime authority are urged to enhance cooperation particularly joint operations to eradicate cross-border crimes. The Crown Prince of Malaysia’s northernmost state Perlis, Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Jamalullail said although Malaysia and Thailand had a long and established the special relationship, there were several things related to security and mutual interest that still needed to be improved. “Major maritime crimes such as smuggling, illegal immigrants, illegal sales of marine products, controlled goods and duty-free cigarettes and liquor can harm both countries. “Illegal sales of marine products can also be controlled through joint intelligence,” he said on Wednesday afternoon. Tuanku Syed Faizuddin also said that safety of the waters would encourage fishermen to increase fishing efforts that would contribute to their respective countries. Zulkarnean earlier in his speech said the collaboration between MMEA and Thailand maritime authority including intelligence information sharing and joint patrols in sensitive areas had long been implemented. “This cooperation can be strengthened, and one way to go about it is to get to know the officers personally. Ihya’ Ramadan is the first of such programme that MMEA participated in and it has provided us better space for such interaction,” he said. The Ihya' Ramadhan is a day-long series of events to “enliven the spirit of Ramadhan” and culminates with an iftar (break-fasting) feast. He added that cooperation between MMEA and Thailand maritime authority had resulted in successful efforts to prevent the intrusion of Rohingya refugees, illegal immigrants and members of the terrorist group Daesh. Zulkarnean also said that joint efforts by two maritime agencies had also been successful to foil the smuggling of firearms and ketum leaves from Malaysia to Thailand. -- BERNAMA