Bribery video: Personnel identified and investigations on

TAWAU - Police here on Wednesday denied that hundreds of illegal Indonesian immigrants could cross into Tawau easily on a daily basis via Batu-Batu, Sabindo as broadcast by the Transmedia Indonesia on Kontroversi7@Trans_7.

District Police Chief ACP Fadil Marsus, however, said the domestic route is undoubtedly the landing point for illegal immigrants based on the fact that the district is on the border with the neighbouring country, but the figures reported are not true.

This is because, he said, they have never compromised on issues related to immigration offences, and have continuously conducted preventive operations, investigations and detentions to curb illegal immigrants either through joint operations with other agencies or elements in the police force.

"In fact, this year alone, seven human trafficking cases involving 43 arrests have been made.

This does not include the hundreds of illegal immigrants apprehended through integrated operations," he said.

According to him, they have opened investigations on the matter such as verifying the incident and image displayed, including the characters, place, vehicle, boats and police broadcast.

"So far, we have identified several individuals including policemen in the broadcast. We are still in the process of investigating the matter and appropriate action will be taken once the investigation is over," he told a press conference here.

Fadil said they are also looking into misconduct and integrity among personnel in the police force and stern action will be taken against any party found involved in the issue.

In addition, he said they would continue to conduct operations and be more aggressive targeting middlemen, skippers on land and sea as well as on boat owners on the rat trails shown in the video.

In the meantime, he took the circulation of the video positively and saw it as being good to ensure more effective and efficient enforcement among security personnel, particularly the police.

"This issue definitely has a negative impact on the image of Malaysian enforcement and is a challenge for the police force to address illegal immigrant issues so that it no longer continues…we have no leniency and will not compromise in this matter," he said.

At the same time, coordinated security enforcement teams have been mobilised to monitor the Batu-Batu area in Sabindo, including rat trails, such as Brumas, Brantian and Kalabakan.

Fadil also urged the local community to continue co-operating with the security enforcement team by channelling information for immediate action.

The video broadcast by TransMedia Indonesia alleged that hundreds of illegal immigrants enter Tawau easily by bribing officers with between RM50 and RM100.

The video was also uploaded to YouTube on July 11, this year by Trans_7 and also on Facebook where it went viral on various social media pages.