Young people with lavish lifestyles under police scrutiny

 

Police said Investigations have revealed some young Kelantanese are involved in smuggling activities across the Thai border. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

Young people in Kelantan with lavish lifestyles have come under police scrutiny for owning luxury vehicles such as Ford Mustangs and BMWs despite having no apparent source of income.

Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said the phenomenon was not new, and had been uncovered through previous investigations involving those who are neither social media influencers nor entrepreneurs.

“Investigations have revealed that some of them are involved in drug, firearm, and contraband smuggling activities across the Kelantan-Thailand border,” he said in Kota Bharu today, Bernama reported.

The IGP’s comments confirmed a statement by Kelantan police yesterday that many social media influencers and product founders had been found to be involved in drug distribution and money laundering activities.

Kelantan police chief Yusoff Mamat said previous arrests had shown that most of them used their businesses to conceal criminal activities.

“Investigations have revealed that some of them are involved in smuggling of drugs, firearms, and contraband across the Kelantan-Thailand border,” Razarudin said today.

He said Kelantan has long been a key route for smugglers, particularly for methamphetamine, heroin, and yaba pills brought in from Thailand. The syndicates also smuggle firearms and various contraband items, including livestock such as cattle.

Razarudin said border controls have been intensified and continuous intelligence operations carried out to dismantle syndicates that exploit youngsters.

Strict action would be taken against anyone involved, including those operating under the guise of legitimate businesses. “We do not want Kelantan to remain a major transit point for drug and firearm syndicates,” he said.

He noted that while several major arrests have been made, it is believed that some networks are still operating covertly, taking advantage of border vulnerabilities. - FMT