Ex-IGP defends delay in action on Wang Kelian discovery.
The temporary transit camps in Wang Kelian, Perlis, were a safe haven for human traffickers operating in Thailand, said former inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar.
In giving his statement as the 47th witness on the 16th day of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the discovery of transit camps and mass graves today, Khalid said the masterminds of human smuggling are from Thailand.
“Investigations did not show any parties from here (Malaysia) are involved.
“The modus operandi is usually to detain illegal immigrants in Thailand until the respective families in Bangladesh pay up before bringing them into Malaysia.
“The activities (human trafficking) taking place on the Malaysian side were masterminded by the Thai side,” said Khalid whose presence at the RCI hearing drew almost full turnout at the public gallery.
He said the temporary transit camps in Wang Kelian located about 200m from the Malaysian-Thai border, would be used when Thailand conducted enforcement operations on the main camps.
“When Thailand disrupts them, they would run to our area (Malaysia). When the operations stopped, they would return to Thailand,” Khalid said.
He, however, explained that he was not officially told of the main camps in Thailand.
He said the Royal Malaysian Police had issued a wanted list of 10 Thai citizens involved in the case.
Nonetheless, he said when several individuals in the list were arrested by Thai authorities, requests by Malaysia to interview the individuals concerned were turned down by Thailand.
Asked why were the temporary transit camps left out of police patrol, Khalid said patrol on the area was difficult due to bad physical terrain and there were no residents there.
Defending the “delayed action” by the police following the initial discovery of the Wang Kelian human trafficking camps and mass graves in January 2015, Khalid said that the police did not have any leads pertaining to the discovery and that they were also uncertain at that time if the camps were indeed within Malaysian territory.
He said this was why he instructed the then Perlis police chief Datuk Zul Aznam Haron for the state police to hold off further actions until more information was obtained, when he was briefed about the situation on Jan 20, 2015.
“We couldn’t confirm if the location was in Malaysia or Thailand. So I instructed Zul Aznam to find out, because we didn’t want to act beyond our border, or it will be against the law.
“And when I asked him what information he had on the transit camps and grave-like structures, he did not provide me with any. So my instruction then was to get more details about the discovery and who was involved. That was why I told him to ‘hold on’,” Khalid said.
Asked why action was not taken immediately despite the discovery of the graves pointing towards mass murders, Khalid merely said the police needed to tie together all information before acting.
Last month, when taking the RCI stand as witness, Zul Aznam had said that he was specifically ordered by Khalid to “hold on” all investigations and that he believed at that time that Bukit Aman would pursue the matter.
The RCI panellists had raised doubts and questioned Khalid why it took the police until May 2015 before the bodies of the human trafficking victims were eventually exhumed from the makeshift graves. It was also not until March that year that further arrests were made.
RCI chairman Tun Arifin Zakaria had also questioned why it needed months for the police to determine if the camps and graves were in Malaysia, arguing the matter could be confirmed within hours.
Meanwhile, Khalid said he was unhappy with how the Perlis cops handled the situation, claiming he was particularly dissatisfied that they were unable to obtain leads to the syndicate.
“When I asked for information and wasn’t given one, of course, I was not happy at that time. He (Zul Aznam) knows I was not satisfied too,” he said.
Khalid said following the discovery of the camps, he had also informed the matter to then-Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and former Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and was asked to find out more details pertaining to the syndicate.
“The prime minister, in particular, was very concerned if our authorities were involved because several Thai authorities were detained in their country. But until today, we are still unable to prove that our men had any involvement,” he said.
“Even until I retired, nobody could show me if the top police brass were involved,” he added.
Khalid admitted that the Wang Kelian issue proved there were weaknesses in the country’s border security, which he said could be improved by increased personnel, improved relationship and intelligence sharing with Thailand and better cooperation among agencies working at the border.
When asked on possible proposals, he said the usage of technological gadgets such as drones, cameras and sensors could be considered.
The former top cop added that he still believed the whole issue surrounding Wang Kelian was a success, pointing out that the police managed to uncover a large-scale cross border crime to ensure it does not repeat in the future.
Earlier reports:
Jun 13, Wang Kelian RCI: Day 15
Jun 12, Wang Kelian RCI: Day 14
May 27, Wang Kelian RCI: Day 12
May 16, Wang Kelian RCI: Day 11
May 15, Wang Kelian RCI: Day 10
May 14, Wang Kelian RCI: Day Nine
May 10, Wang Kelian RCI: Day Eight
May 8, Wang Kelian RCI: Day Seven
Apr 26, Wang Kelian RCI: Day Six
Apr 24, Wang Kelian RCI: Day Five
Apr 23, Wang Kelian RCI: Day Four
Apr 22, Wang Kelian RCI: Day Three
Apr 19, Wang Kelian RCI: Suspected Involvement of Malaysians in Human Trafficking
Apr 17, Wang Kelian RCI: Day One