The Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) has blamed illegals working on resort islands in Sabah for the recent series of cross border kidnappings and vowed to weed them out.
"Based on Esscom's intelligence feedback on the modus operandi used by the kidnappers, these criminals appear to know the area well, including the inhabitants of the resorts.
"We suspect there are insiders, particularly locals who are from the Philippines who have leaked information to the kidnappers before hand," said Esscom director-general Mohamad Mentek in a statement today.
He alleged that these foreign workers did not have valid documents, and vowed a large scale operation to weed them out from several identified resort islands soon.
The move comes after Chinese tourist Gao Huayun, 29 and Filipino worker Marcy Dayawan @ Mimi, 40 were seized by seven gunmen on a speed boat from Singamata Adventures and Reef Resort off the coast of Semporna.
The hostages are believed to have been taken to south Philippines and Manila, which believes it to be the work of Abu Sayyaf, has ordered a hunt for the group.
Mohammad issued a stern warning to resort operators in the Esszone, saying that action would be taken against them if found to have hired undocumented foreign workers
Mohammad added that he had met with resort operators on beefing up security, including installing CCTV and hiring more guards.
"All resort operators must be responsible for ensuring that the security situation in Esszone is constantly under control and guaranteed," he said.
In a related development, Sabah police commissioner Hamza Taib said police have picked up 17 people for kidnap investigations and zoomed in on four suspects.
He said two of the four are resort workers and the rest close relatives of Marcy who together with the Chinese tourist, were taken by the kidnappers, according to the New Straits Times.
The remaining 13 individuals are all illegal immigrants, he added. The daily said it is understood that Marcy was working illegally at the resort.
"Based on Esscom's intelligence feedback on the modus operandi used by the kidnappers, these criminals appear to know the area well, including the inhabitants of the resorts.
"We suspect there are insiders, particularly locals who are from the Philippines who have leaked information to the kidnappers before hand," said Esscom director-general Mohamad Mentek in a statement today.
He alleged that these foreign workers did not have valid documents, and vowed a large scale operation to weed them out from several identified resort islands soon.
The move comes after Chinese tourist Gao Huayun, 29 and Filipino worker Marcy Dayawan @ Mimi, 40 were seized by seven gunmen on a speed boat from Singamata Adventures and Reef Resort off the coast of Semporna.
The hostages are believed to have been taken to south Philippines and Manila, which believes it to be the work of Abu Sayyaf, has ordered a hunt for the group.
Mohammad issued a stern warning to resort operators in the Esszone, saying that action would be taken against them if found to have hired undocumented foreign workers
Mohammad added that he had met with resort operators on beefing up security, including installing CCTV and hiring more guards.
"All resort operators must be responsible for ensuring that the security situation in Esszone is constantly under control and guaranteed," he said.
In a related development, Sabah police commissioner Hamza Taib said police have picked up 17 people for kidnap investigations and zoomed in on four suspects.
He said two of the four are resort workers and the rest close relatives of Marcy who together with the Chinese tourist, were taken by the kidnappers, according to the New Straits Times.
The remaining 13 individuals are all illegal immigrants, he added. The daily said it is understood that Marcy was working illegally at the resort.
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