Mazlan inspects the guard-of-honour at the start of the parade.
KUCHING: The police are calling on higher-learning institutions in the state to scrutinise their foreign students in order to weed out pretenders who arrive here with the intention of committing crimes such as drug trafficking.
State Police Commissioner Datuk Mazlan Mansor said greater scrutiny is needed in light of cases where foreigners enrol to study here to disguise their real intentions.
“The current trend for drugs to enter the state is through courier service, and also involves foreigners enrolled in higher-learning institutes.
“I urge the authorities of these institutions to properly screen whether some of the foreigners studying with them are actual students or just pretending to be while committing crimes,” he said to reporters after leading a monthly parade at state police headquarters here yesterday.
Mazlan did, however, concede that there were cases where foreign students went rogue only after they had been accepted to study here.
“They come in legally and are vetted by their respective institutions. But once they are in, their (criminal) activities are beyond the knowledge of the institutes.”
Mazlan also advised those who actively shop online to be careful with who they are dealing with to avoid having illegal items such as drugs shipped to them.
He said online shoppers should ensure that purchases are made only through trusted companies or individuals.
“When you buy from unknown parties, they can send you drugs or other such things.
“Be more careful who you deal with. We already have one such case this year, and if we don’t advise now, it can spread,” he added.
Earlier during the parade, Mazlan read out his monthly address to his men before presenting several of them with commendation certificates for their recent outstanding performance on the job.
State Deputy Police Commissioner Datuk Abdul Aziz Yusuf and State CID chief Datuk Dev Kumar were among those present during yesterday’s parade.
Mazlan presents a certificate of commendation to a recipient during the parade.