MARINE POLICE IDENTIFY NINE 'HOT SPOTS' FOR ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES

PENANG (Malaysia), Jan 12 (Bernama) -- The marine police have identified
nine 'hot spots' for smuggling activities at the Region 1 coastline.

The coastline involves states of Penang, Perak, Kedah, Perlis and Selangor.

Declining to reveal the 'hot spots', Marine Operations Force Region 1
commander ACP Zainul Abidin Hasan said the marine police would focus on tackling
human trafficking, goods smuggling and drug trafficking.

He said that in northern states of Penang and Kedah, the police would focus
on the involvement of fishermen in drug smuggling activities, while in Selangor,
they would monitor human trafficking activities as the coasts were not far from
the borders of neighbouring countries and international waters.

The fishing villages of Langkawi were popular goods smuggling locations as
the island enjoyed duty-free status, he told reporters here Tuesday.

In as far as illegal activities investigated last year, Zainul Abidin said
Selangor recorded the highest number of arrests at 154, followed by Langkawi
(103), Perak (84) and Penang (53).

He said that last year, 395 people were detained in 1,600 marine police
operations as compared to 568 in 1,196 operations, the previous year.

He disclosed that 755 illegal immigrants from Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar,
Iraq, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Afghanistan were arrested last
year.
-- BERNAMA