PORT KLANG: The 13th edition of Operation Redback, conducted by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and Australian Border Force (ABF), is focusing more on combating transborder crime involving the movement of international militants.
Maritime First Admiral, Anor Jaafar said although no arrest of such militants had been made since the operation was implemented by both countries in 2011, enforcement continued to be enhanced in view of Malaysia being viewed as a transit location for foreign migrants, particularly from West Asia, before going to other countries.
“As ours is a plural society, anyone can come to this country and stay. We know that many of them (international militants) had been arrested in Kuala Lumpur and also in Sabah.
“Basically, they (migrants from West Asia) have often made Malaysia a transit point to other countries. Because of this, Op Redback this time will focus more on tackling such cases and among the waters we are monitoring are that of Selangor, Perak and Negeri Sembilan,” he said at a news conference after the launching of Op Redback, series 13/2019 here yesterday.
Also present at the launch were Australian Acting High Commissioner to Malaysia, Michael Growder and ABF Southeast Asia regional director, Commander Chris Waters.
Anor said besides curbing the movement of international militants, Series 13/2019 of Op Redback was also aimed at preventing drug smuggling, human trafficking, smuggling of migrants and so on.
He said besides the operation, MMEA’s cooperation with various security forces in this country was also being strengthened to curb the entry of migrants, particularly from West Asia, for fear of their involvement with the Daesh and al-Qaeda terror groups.
He noted that since January this year until now, 376 cases of migrant smuggling cases had been foiled by the MMEA while 456 foreign migrants without valid documents were detained as a result of the training exercise with the ABF through Op Redback.
Meanwhile, Waters said a lot were learned during the 13 editions of the operation where ABF and MMEA were always improving efficiency through various forms of joint training and sharing of the latest information on transborder crime.
“Malaysia patrols one of the busiest straits in the world (Malacca Straits), so Malaysia has a lot of experience to share with us. This is the 13th operation and maybe it will be a bit different as we (ABF and MMEA) grow and develop together,” he said.
The operation, from yesterday until Friday, is participated by 80 officers and members of MMEA and ABF. — Bernama