Hunting down drug kingpins a top priority: M’sian police

PETALING JAYA — The police in Malaysia have announced a new focus to tackle rising crime in the country following the recent spate of shootings: Cracking down on drug kingpins.

“Getting the kingpins is top priority besides widening the sweep of drug dealers in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur,” the Crime Prevention Department Director, Commissioner Ayub Yaakob, told The Star newspaper yesterday.

According to the police, the masterminds of local drug syndicates were among 6,142 drug traffickers detained in the first half of the year, the newspaper reported. The drug haul was worth more than RM$88 million (S$34.2 million).

“We also want to change the false perception that the police are in cahoots with the underworld, especially those linked to drug syndicates,” said Mr Ayub.

He added that patrol units under his department would map out crime hot spots based on the type and frequency of the crimes, to allow the strategic deployment of police personnel.

A series of violent gun crimes, including the fatal shooting of Arab-Malaysian Development Bank founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi on July 29, has rattled Malaysians and sparked fears of a gangland war over control of the drug and vice trade spilling out into the open.

Last week, a 37-year-old convicted drug trafficker was shot dead in broad daylight at a traffic light junction in Penang.

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has blamed the crime surge on the 2011 abolition of the Emergency Ordinance (EO) law that allowed for detention without trial.

Mr Zahid said the repeal, which led to the release of 2,600 people, had freed many hardcore criminals and former gang members. Last week, he said the law may be restored to combat the spike in crime.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has, however, countered that the repeal of the EO should not be blamed, saying the country already had adequate laws in place and the police needed to step up their crime-fighting efforts.

“Even when we had the Internal Security Act and the Emergency Ordinance, there were shooting cases … We have to establish facts, what are the problems facing the force, is there enough manpower, are the logistics and equipment sufficient and so on,” he said at a press conference on Monday.

Agencies