PASIR MAS - The eighth Battalion of the General Operations Force (GOF8) has received information that a group of illegals from Myanmar are hiding and just waiting to sneak into Malaysia through a rat trail along the Malaysia-Thailand border.
Its commanding officer, Supt Mat Shukor Yusof said the information had been received from the authorities of Malaysia’s neighbouring country and which (information) was regarded as believable.
"A few weeks ago, we received information that a group of Myanmar nationals was already in Golok town, across the border and ready to enter Malaysia.
"It was said that a syndicate was behind this and it had been harbouring the group for quite some time but now forced to send them to Malaysia soonest possible as they were no longer willing to bear the cost of keeping them near the border.”
He said this at a news conference held at the Lubok Setul GOF Tactical headquarters. here, today.
Mat Shukor said that following the latest information received, GOF8 believed that more Myanmar nationals would try to sneak into Malaysia in small groups but more frequently.
"In an incident at 6.20 pm yesterday, 13 illegals from Myanmar including two women aged 20 and above 40 were detained in a raid conducted in Kampung Bakong, here.
"They were suspected of just having entered Malaysia via a rat trail before being found hiding among the bushes. The inspection conducted found that all of them had no valid documents to enter this country.
"All of them were then handed over to the Pasir Mas district police headquarters for further action under Section 6 (1) of the Immigration Act 1959/1963," he added.
He also said that since Feb 16 up to today, PGA8 had detained 59 illegals from Myanmar comprising 49 men, nine women and a male child. - BERNAMA