Over 8,000 illegal immigrants nabbed for trying to enter country since May 1 — Ismail Sabri

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 8,427 illegal immigrants, 789 skippers and 351 smugglers were detained under Ops Benteng since May 1, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

He said 227 boats and 922 land vehicles were also seized in the operation to curb cross-border crime and contain the spread of Covid-19.

Ops Benteng involves the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF), the police, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency ( MMEA) and the Malaysian Border Security Agency (AKSEM).

“Yesterday, 51 illegal immigrants and two smugglers were arrested, while three vessels and three land vehicles were seized,” he told reporters when giving out Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) and Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) updates here yesterday. Ismail Sabri also said that 517 individuals were detained on Monday for defying CMCO directives.

Of those, 467 were compounded while 50 more were remanded for violations that included not practising physical distancing (187 individuals), not wearing face masks (83) and failing to prepare customer registration tools (63).

“Other offences include activities at entertainment centres (56), gambling activities (42), crossing state/ district borders without permission (37) and others (49),” he said.

As for mandatory quarantine, he said 69,443 individuals had returned home from abroad as of yesterday, and they were placed at 69 hotels and 22 public training institutes as well as educational institutes since July 24.

A total of 396 individuals were sent to hospital for treatment, he said.