LAHAD DATU, Jan 31 — Five Filipino individuals, suspected to be associated with militant activities and the Abu Sayyaf group, were successfully apprehended in Semporna and Kunak last year.

Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) commander, Datuk Victor Sanjos, said that all the suspects were in the country illegally after fleeing from the Philippines due to pressure from their national security forces conducting intensive operations.

Revealing neither the arrest date nor the suspects’ identities, he added that they entered Sabah using illegal routes to avoid detection. The suspects acted independently and did not have any family members in the state.

"The operation to apprehend all the suspects was carried out jointly with teams from the Sabah Contingent Police Headquarters as well as Bukit Aman, in collaboration with the Malaysian Armed Forces, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, and ESSCom itself,” he told reporters here today.

He added that all the suspects were detained under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act and were deported to their home country after serving their sentences in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Victor said that based on counter-terrorism target assessments conducted by the Special Branch of Bukit Aman Police Headquarters, a total of 13 individuals have been listed as wanted by the authorities due to their involvement in militant activities and cross-border crimes.

"At present, ESSCom is actively monitoring the threats and activities of individuals involved to prevent them from entering the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone),” he added.

Furthermore, he said that the ESSZone has remained stable without any kidnapping incidents since 2020.

"Since 2015, security forces have shot dead 20 members of the Abu Sayyaf group, and 17 individuals associated with the kidnapping group for ransom have been arrested. From 2014 to 2018, security forces also thwarted 12 kidnapping attempts and sea robberies,” he continued.

Victor said that there were 21 recorded cases of kidnappings for ransom in the ESSZone waters involving 58 victims. However, 51 victims were successfully rescued, six were killed, and one person is still missing.

He highlighted that in over a decade since the establishment of ESSCom, cells of the Abu Sayyaf and kidnapping groups for ransom have been dismantled through various integrated special operations conducted in collaboration with security forces and involving intelligence sharing with the authorities of the Philippines and Indonesia. — Bernama