Malaysian smuggling weapons via Thai border tells Straits Times that assault rifles and semi-automatic guns are favoured by militant clients.
In a phone interview with The Straits Times, the 49-year-old man who gave his name as Mat said that most of the guns eventually fall into the hands of gangsters, but the possibility of Islamic militants being his customers could not be discounted.
“Based on my own experience in handling these requests, I suspect one or two of my clients might be IS members,” he told the Singapore daily.
Mat added that he could sometimes guess the client’s intention by the weapons they chose.
“I think assault rifles and semi-automatic guns are favoured by the militant clients.
“Another giveaway is the way they carry themselves, the way they speak to each other and the nicknames they use among their peers,” ST quoted him as saying.
According to Mat, smuggling arms is very profitable and that was the reason he had switched from his previous activity of smuggling in firecrackers from Thailand.
“As it pays well, I do not ask what my clients are planning to do with the arms and ammunition that I sell to them.
“These weapons are usually priced between RM3,000 and RM15,000, depending on the model,” Mat told ST, adding that the weapons were often dismantled and hidden in secret compartments in his vehicle as he crossed into Malaysia from Thailand.
However, Mat said, with the police increasing their monitoring of IS militant activity and links to arms smuggling via the Thai-Malaysia border, he is lying low and now spends his days growing vegetables to keep himself off the security radar.
The issue of smuggling arms via the Malaysia-Thailand border is not new.
In May this year, Bernama had reported that Kelantan police were investigating a group of smugglers operating along the Malaysia-Thailand border for supplying firearms to Islamic State militants.
However, efforts to curb the smuggling activity has been hampered due to the many Malaysia-Thai cross-border smuggling routes, according to the relevant authority in charge.
“It’s pretty rare as it’s not easy to detect a person attempting to sneak in weapons, unless there’s intelligence, and security scanner machines are in place,” Malaysian Border Security Agency director-general Mohamad Ismail was quoted as saying.
Police probe claims of man supplying arms to IS militants
Poor enforcement at border leads to rise in arms smuggling
The views expressed in the contents are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of FMT.
lagi info di : Gosip Artis Terkini