KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — The 25th Asean Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC) and its Related Meetings, which lasted for five days starting on Monday (June 23) in Putrajaya, served as a platform in formulating a plan to combat 10 transboundary crimes that plague the region.
The Home Affairs Ministry's (KDN) International Division secretary Mohamad Azlan Razali said the 10 transborder crimes involved, among others, terrorism, cybercrime, human trafficking, drug smuggling, wildlife, timber trafficking, and money laundering.
Malaysia, as the Asean chairman and host of the meeting, played a very significant role in formulating short-term and long-term action plans to strengthen efforts to combat transboundary crimes at the regional level.
"The SOMTC platform allows us to move collectively and coordinate actions at the regional and domestic levels, as well as cooperation with dialogue partner countries such as the United States and China, also plays an important role in the transfer of knowledge and technology," he said.
Azlan was speaking as a guest on the ‘Asean: From Kuala Lumpur to the World’ programme produced by Bernama TV recently.
The 25th SOMTC brought together senior Asean officials, including the observer country Timor-Leste, and was also attended by senior officials from 10 dialogue partner countries, including the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
He added that the differences in laws between Asean countries in dealing with certain crimes like drug trafficking were also highlighted in the meeting, and among the long-term measures being worked on was the publication of a legal handbook.
"Through this handbook, each member country can review the legislation used by their respective countries in combating cross-border crime as a common reference," Azlan said.
Via the SOMTC platform, Asean countries can share strategic information so that efforts to combat cross-border crime syndicates can be carried out more effectively.
Taking the example of efforts to combat scam crime call centres operating in neighbouring countries, he said the exchange of information and close cooperation between the Royal Malaysia Police and the police of neighbouring countries has greatly helped in efforts to bring back citizens of this country who are victims of syndicates.
— Bernama
