PASIR MAS: The General Operations Force’s (GOF9) Ninth Battalion has detained a total of 68 individuals, including four women, on suspicion of being involved in smuggling activities at the Malaysia-Thailand border through the ‘Op Benteng’ operations conducted from Oct 17 until yesterday (Nov 17).
Its commanding officer, Supt Nor Azizan Yusof said all those arrested were locals and Thais, believed to be involved in the activities.
He said that within a month, his team also seized various types of goods and vehicles with a total value of RM3,520,857.25 million.
“Among the items confiscated during the operations this time were livestock, Siamese rice, vape liquid as well as pets such as birds and dogs.
“We also seized 52 vehicles of various types suspected to be used in smuggling activities,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Commenting further, Nor Azizan said the modus operandi of the smugglers was to smuggle in goods from the neighbouring country through illegal bases and leave them on the banks of Sungai Golok before other parties came to pick them up.
“Most of the smugglers were detained in several hotspots bordering Thailand, namely, in the Pasir Mas, Rantau Panjang, Tanah Merah, and Tumpat districts,” he said. — Bernama