Indonesia and Malaysia Increase Combating Transnational Crimes

KUALA LUMPUR, KOMPAS.com - Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to increase cooperation in dealing with transnational crimes including terrorism and narcotic drug trafficking, and in monitoring their common borders. The agreement was formalized by the signing of the texts of  the 15th standard operation procedures of the Malaysia-Indonesia General Border Commission (GBC Malindo)  by Indonesian National Police Chief General Timur Pradopo and his Malaysian counterpart Tan Sri Ismail Omar here on Friday.

Timur said the cooperation between the Indonesian and Malaysian police forces was designed to reduce transnational crime and narcotic drug trafficking which had become matters of great concern in the two countries. "We have agreed to exchange information which could be followed up by the two sides with regard to law enforcement or preventing the criminal actvities," he said.

Regarding cooperation in  border regions, he said that  monitoring operations by the respective police forces would be done  in the spirit of neighborly  friendship  to create a more conducive situation on both sides of their common borders. Ismail Omar meanwhile said the agreement was made in a new spirit for exploring closer  cooperation between the two police forces.

The 15th Standard Operation Procedure contained five kinds of cooperation covering monitoring in the seas by  Malaysian and Indonesian marine police, comunications and the handling of criminal cases. The others cover cooperation in the monitoring of the borders between the police in the Malaysian state of Sabah and the police in the Indonesian province of  East Kalimantan, and between the  police in  Malaysia’s Sarawak and the police in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan.