KOTA KINABALU, Aug 4 — A new bureau has been set up to tackle the issue of wildlife crimes such as poaching and the trade of protected animals in the country, said Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani.
He announced that the Wildlife Crime Bureau (WCB), to operate under the Internal Security and Public Order Department, was approved by the government last month.
“The bureau will have 50 new positions. We hope that the WCB will open the eyes of many parties and show that environmental crimes also deserve attention and proactive enforcement, just like other conventional crimes.
“Since it was approved last month, we hope to start as soon as possible and identify the people to fill the 50 positions,” he said, adding that the bureau will see teamwork between Perhilitan and its east Malaysian counterparts.
“The bureau will be based in Bukit Aman, but they will also cover Sabah and Sarawak,” he said, adding that it will work with the corresponding state legal framework.
The Ops Bersepadu Khazanah has seen an increase in seizures this year, 60 cases from the 30 cases recorded in the same period last year, with more than triple the number of arrests and six times the value of seized items.
In January to July this year, 97 people were arrested, compared to 29 in the same period last year, and RM3,831,987 worth of items were seized this year, compared to RM537,490 last year.
Acryl thanked the enforcement agency along with non-governmental organisations who were involved in the arrests.
“The police are committed to working with other government agencies through the ops which directly supports the Sustainable Development Goals in the protection and conservation of the country’s natural heritage,” he said.
