LAHAD DATU: A total of 249 illegal immigrants were arrested during the General Operations Force (GOF) Ops Gerakan Tayang this year.
Lahad Datu GOF commanding officer Supt Ahmad Fuad Othman, who disclosed this yesterday, said illegal immigrants comprised 210 Filipinos, 36 Indonesians and three nationalities from other countries.
He said all those arrested – 219 men and 30 women – failed to show identification documents when examined by the GOF members.
“They have been handed over to the Immigration Department for further action,” he told reporters after attending the NKRA Combating Crime Together with the Community programme, which was held at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Tanjung Labian, here, on Sunday.
Lahad Datu GOF organised the one-day programme which was officiated by Tungku assemblyman Datuk Mohd Suhaili Said and attended by Felda Sabah general manager Juany Haji Salleh. Ahmad Fuad said the GOF team had also arrested 14 people under the Arms Act, nine under the Drugs Act, four under the Customs Act, two under the Film Censorship Act 2002, and one each under the SPRM Act and Fisheries Act.
“During the same period, we also made multiple seizures involving cigarettes and liquor of various brands, firecrackers and fireworks, controlled items such as cooking oil and petrol all worth about RM372,838.29,” he said.
Other items seized included pesos, 14 pump engines with 12 pump boats, 11 outboard engines, six speedboats, five engines and five boats, among others.
According to Ahmad Fuad, the success of arrests and seizure was due to public cooperation and tip-off through the operations carried out by the GOF team.
“We are grateful to the people for their cooperation and support in providing tip-off to the GOF and we hope this commitment will be continued.
“At the same time, we will also continue to show commitment and full cooperation to all other government agencies in an effort to improve safety level in all areas in order to address the entry of illegal immigrants, smuggling, piracy and other criminal offences.
“The goal of this programme is to restore moral values of society, especially among the younger generation to solve crimes as well as cultivate knowledge about crime prevention as a joint responsibility,” he said.
In the meantime, he added that nearly 1,000 residents of 12 villages in Tungku constituency attended the programme during which crime prevention flyers were distributed apart from exhibition of police uniforms, performances and a display of helicopter.