"Even though these people possess Malaysian Identity card and other forms of identification you can't trust them fully.
"Even the intruders at Tanduo were in possession of Malaysian Identity Cards.
"Ahmad Malandi @Mat Bom (one of the Tanduo terrorists/conspirators) had a Malaysian Identity Card. Even his kids have Malaysian I-cards," Esscom representative ACP Hassim Justin told the National Current Issues 2015 dialogue at the State Federal Administration Complex, Tuesday.
He blamed the situation that had placed the security of Sabah at risk to the mistake of government officials in the past. "Now we are the ones who have to clean up their (NRD) mess. He (the terrorist) was born in Sitangkai and got Malaysian citizenship after entering Sabah."
He said employers of these people must also keep comprehensive records of their staff.
He said the numerous kidnappings at resorts nd fish farms were almost all the result of spies and informants working at these resorts.
"This was compounded by many of these resorts not keeping any records of their staff, particularly foreigners, and gave many excuses when we questioned them."
Hassim also said they were taking action to crack down on smuggling, particularly subsidised goods, which was a serious drain on the nation financially.
"In the case of the Tanduo incident smuggled fuel from Malaysia was instrumental in helping the terrorist Royal Sulu Army launch their invasion of Sabah as the smuggled Malaysian fuel was cheaper than Philippines fuel. Hence (our own) fuel was what they used in their invasion.
He said 98pc of the inhabitants of the Sulu Archipelago are Muslim, but on the Mindanao mainland about 80pc of the daily groceries are not Halal. "So, when our subsidised cooking oil and sugar are smuggled out, we are actually enriching them.
"They use the Ringgit instead of the Philipine Peso in Taganak and know more about Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib than their own President Benigno Aquino. This reflects the extent of their dependence on smuggled goods from Malaysia."
He said this was also why Malaysians in east coast towns like Sandakan or even in Kota Kinabalu sometimes find items like sugar out of stock.
"These items are restricted or reserved, for example, to one tonne for Sandakan only. But only half a tonne ends up on the shelves as the other half is smuggled out".
Hassim said to counter this the security forces would use the same techniques used against the communists in Malaya during the Emergency.
"This is when the area is declared a security zone where no one can travel freely in and out. Those who live at the edges of the forest will be relocated to a central area. This is intended to deny our goods from being smuggled out to them."
He revealed that in Tawau one company was even found to be supplying about 300 Government-subsidised cooking Gas Cylinders daily to Pulau Sebatik (an island shared with Indonesia).
"But there are only about 300 households in Pulau Sebatik. That means in one month the firm was supplying 9,000 gas cylinders to Sebatik. I myself wondered if the Sebatik islanders were actually eating gas?
"What was happening was that the subsidised gas cylinders were sold to a syndicate in Indonesia. When my colleague was transferred to Tawau with his family, he went in search of a cooking gas cylinder. Even after going around the whole town he still could not find a shop that could sell him a single gas cylinder.
"Earlier this year we conducted an operation in Sandakan and Tawau with the Ministry of Domestic Trade Cooperatives and Consumerism against smuggled gas cylinders and made many seizures."
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