Police air wing unit monitors country's waters during MCO

Six flights are carried out daily by the Police Air Wing Unit (PGU) to ensure the safety of the country’s territorial waters from foreign encroachment during the movement control order (MCO).

PGU deputy commander SAC Noor Sham Md Jani said since the flights were carried out last April 23, the unit had been able to thwart several attempts by undocumented migrants to enter the country's waters.

“PGU is committed to ensuring that our country's waters are fully monitored to avoid 'import clusters' from entering the country.

“We take proactive measures by conducting six flights daily, four during the day and two at night, covering areas from Langkawi, Kedah, to Tanjung Piai, Johor," he told Bernama after conducting an aerial survey of the major expressways in the country last night.

He said three types of aircraft were used to monitor the country’s territorial waters, covering the Straits of Melaka and Langkawi, namely the Beechcraft King Air 350, Cessna Caravan 208 and Agusta Westland AW139.

Noor Sham said during the monitoring, it was found that attempts by foreign boats to encroach into the country's waters happened during high tide.

With the cooperation of other enforcement agencies, like the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the marine police, we were able to drive them away, he added.

Last month, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador revealed that there were attempts to bring in undocumented migrants into the country through back roads and also using boats during the implementation of MCO.

- Bernama