THE authorities have caught 2,491 migrants trying to enter the country illegally since May, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

Joint operations were carried out with the police, army,  Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and Malaysian Border Security Agency to seal the country’s borders as a precaution against imported Covid-19 transmissions.

“The authorities have also seized 596 tekong (middlemen) and arrested 144 smugglers.

“They also detained 96 boats and 257 vehicles during the operations,” he said in a statement. 

Authorities also chased away 257 undocumented migrants, 9 middlemen and 37 boats during the same period, the defence minister said.

Yesterday, police set up 62 roadblocks and inspected 28,589 vehicles to curb the entry of Illegal Immigrants.

He said the government will take stern action against any party who tries to enter the country’s borders illegally and enforcement agencies will continue to tighten border control. 

Ismail Sabri also said that police have arrested 238 individuals for disobeying the recovery movement control order instructions. 

“Of that number, a total of 42 individuals were remanded while 196 individuals were compounded.  

“Among the offences was disobeying the recovery MCO instructions, which included nine pubs and nightclubs where 229 people did not follow the standard operating procedures.” – July 29, 2020.