KUALA LUMPUR: The police have formed a special task force to investigate claims that Langkawi has now turned into a haven for drug smuggling and consumption.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Mazlan Mansor said the police, through this task force, had been monitoring the situation and had taken measures to curb the illegal activity.
“They (measures) are being taken day to day. In fact, we already have a task force set up to curb drug activity, especially in Langkawi.
“Police will soon provide the statistics to show the work that we have been doing,” he told a media conference after attending the Royal Malaysian Police Cooperative (KPDRM) 84th annual general meeting here, today.
Recent media reports have suggested that the popular resort island has now turned into a drug haven where smuggling and drug use are concerned.
In a separate matter, Mazlan also responded to protests by a group formed to seek justice for political aide Teoh Beng Hock, who was found dead in Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam while under interrogation by the Selangor MACC in 2009, on why his death was now being investigated under wrongful confinement and not homicide.
Mazlan said the move to reclassify the case was the decision of the Attorney-General’s chambers, and not by the police.
“As instructed by the Attorney-General, investigations are now under Section 342 of the Penal Code for wrongful confinement, (and) not homicide.
“I can’t comment more than that (A-G’s decision). We investigate what is decided by the prosecution, so it would be better for these questions to be directed to the prosecution,” he said.
The chairman of the Teoh Beng Hock Trust For Democracy non-governmental organisation (NGO), Ng Geok Chee has pointed out that the decision to reclassify the case was a deviation from the Court of Appeal judgment in 2014, which ruled that one or more unknown persons caused the death of Beng Hock, including MACC officers.
Meanwhile, when commenting on the case involving former ministerial private secretary Haziq Abdullah Abdul Aziz, who confessed to being one of the two men in a sex video implicating a Cabinet minister, Mazlan said there have been no arrests so far, adding that police were still continuing investigations.
Haziq Abdullah, 27, who was private secretary to Deputy Primary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, was detained on June 14 by a team from the Bukit Aman Classified Crime Investigation Unit to help in investigations.
Also present at the AGM today were Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Abdul Hamid Bador and KPDRM chairman Datuk Seri Ayub Yaakob. - Bernama
