KOTA KINABALU: Sabah police have sought the cooperation of journalists and the camera crew of a local television station to resolve prostitution cases in and around Sandakan, as reported.
Datuk Noor Rashid Ibrahim
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Noor Rashid Ibrahim said the station had reported raids conducted by the state Immigration Department on several entertainment outlets, used for illegal activities like prostitution.
“The visual and conversation by Ntv7 journalists with the detained women could be used by police to identify the people behind such activities and owners of such premises.
“We are concerned that the presence of foreigners in such outlets could have been related to human trafficking,” he told reporters at the Sabah police headquarters here yesterday.
Noor Rashid who thanked Ntv7 for exposing such illegal activities, urged the station to tip off the police when such raids were being carried out.
He added that during the March 24 raid, carried out by the Immigration Department, 10 foreign nationals were detained but police did not have the statistics.
Noor Rashid added that since January, Sabah police had detained 15 women from the Philippines, four from Indonesia, two local women and four local and foreign men for their involvement in prostitution activities.
Last year 77 Filipinos, 71 Indonesians and 22 local men were detained for similar offences, he said. — Bernama