Criminal activities in Sarawak continue to be a cause of concern for the community, triggering various reactions and anxiety among the public regarding their safety, families, and properties.
Despite the overall peaceful and harmonious living conditions in Sarawak, the state has not been exempted from criminal incidents.
This year, several shocking criminal cases, including drug seizures, raids on a job scam syndicate, jail break, and skeleton discovery, have left Sarawakians in shock and on tenterhooks.
Efforts to address these challenges are ongoing with the Sarawak Contingent Police Headquarters (IPK) actively working to curb criminal elements and ensure the safety and peace of the state.
Largest drug bust of the year in Miri
In June, the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) seized drugs worth RM47.2 million following multiple raids in Miri.
The seizure, the largest in Sarawak, involved 768kg of drugs comprising 81.8kg of methylenedioxymethamphetamine, 686.7kg of ketamine, and 1.15g of Erimin 5 pills.
According to Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) director Datuk Seri Mohd Kamarudin Md Din, the drugs seized could have served 2.5 million addicts in the state.
Three men, aged between 28 and 37, believed to be members of a distribution syndicate in Sarawak, were arrested in the raids.
It was made known that the drugs were smuggled in from Brazil and Taiwan.
The modus operandi involved using home premises as storage for the illegal substances, which were then distributed in the local market, especially around Sarawak.
Foreigners break free from Tapah jail
In the same month (June), two foreign prisoners were reported to have escaped from the Tapah police station lock-up in Padawan district.
The-then Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohd Azman Ahmad Sapri identified the escapees as 21-year-old Kelvin and 31-year-old Bony.
Both suspects, from Indonesia, were arrested by a team from Kota Sentosa police station on June 7, 2023, and were placed at the Tapah police station for further investigation under Section 6 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act.
One of the escapees, Kelvin, was arrested at a fishing pond in Tapah while, Bony still remained at large until this day.
Kelvin was sentenced to one year in prison by Magistrate Syarifah Fatimah Azura Wan Ali Court on June 20 after he pleaded guilty to a charge framed under Section 224 of the Penal Code for escaping police custody.
Job scam syndicate busted in Kuching
It is very common that a person would know that he or she is being scammed when receiving a job offer that is too-good-to-be-true.
Despite that, no one could figure out how and where does the scam syndicate obtain their contact numbers and where they operate from.
In November, the Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) had conducted a raid on four premises in Kuching, suspected to have been operating an online call centre offering non-existent job opportunities.
The raid resulted in the successful arrests of 65 locals, aged between 16 and 50, including a 45-year-old man believed to be the mastermind.
It was reported that the syndicate utilised social media platforms such as Telegram, LinkedIn, and Facebook to identify and target victims in Australia and South America, specifically in Brazil, Peru, Paraguay and Chile.
The victims were told to pay a sum and write reviews to promote a website offering cheap flight tickets. Although needing to pay for the review, the victims were promised a commission and a refund of payment upon completion of the task.
Both the commission and refund never materialised.
Skeletal discovery in Sibu drain
What was initially a routine drain cleaning operation at Jalan Bukit Assek took an unexpected turn when skeletal remains, believed to be human, were discovered, marking the site as a potential crime scene.
The unsettling discovery occurred on Dec 18 when Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) workers stumbled upon a human skull during their work. Promptly, the workers alerted the local police, initiating a thorough investigation into the matter.
Over the next few days, from 8 am to 4 pm, a collaborative effort between the police and SMC workers led to the recovery of about 83 bone fragments of legs, hands, head and body.
Sibu police chief ACP Zulkipli Suhaili confirmed that a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis will be conducted on the recovered bone fragments, which may provide crucial insights into the identity and potential origins of the remains.
The case has been classified as sudden death and it is still under investigation.
