KOTA BARU, May 10 — The Kelantan Customs Department (JKDM) have stepped up monitoring to crack down on smugglers living along the porous 103-kilometre Golok River on the Malaysia-Thailand border and carrying out smuggling activities for generations.

Kelantan JKDM director Wan Jamal Abdul Salam Wan Long said as a result of surveillance and intelligence as well as cases that surface, smuggling only occurs on a small scale but there is an increase in the frequency of such activities as a means of livelihood.

"The amount of smuggling is reducing due to the frequency of monitoring by enforcement agencies such as the Malaysian Armed Forces, the General Operations Force (GOF) and the Royal Malaysian Police every 24 hours.

"JKDM Kelantan has always been ready and prepared to carry out monitoring along the border to curb smuggling, including on the three legal routes in Rantau Panjang, Bukit Bunga and Pengkalan Kubor,” he said.

Wan Jamal said this while commenting on a recent newspaper report on the ‘Legacy of the Smuggler’s Family in Kelantan’, living among river settlements along Sungai Golok in the Rantau Panjang District and who have chosen to work as smugglers for three generations.

Wan Jamal said strict action and prosecution awaits those who are found guilty.

"We will not compromise with smuggling activities and anyone who has committed an offence will be dealt with according to the law administered by the department.

"The public is urged to help JKDM fight smuggling, particularly items like cigarettes, liquor, firecrackers, drugs and vehicles. They are advised not to engage in such crime,” he said.

He said that there are more than 140 illegal bases along the narrow Golok River which comprise illegal routes for commuting to-and-from, since most of the citizens in these two countries are bonded by family ties impervious to stifling regulations.

According to him, the villagers living along the Golok River are mostly the pioneering owners of the land there and there are houses built on private land near the river, making it an impossible maze for agencies to conduct raids and monitoring.

He said smuggling not only harms the country in terms of lost revenue, but also poses a threat to national security and the well-being of the people. — Bernama