Sosma 'a must' for syndicate-related crimes, says deputy IGP

The Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) needs to be widely applied to crack down on syndicate-related criminal activities in the country as a whole, says Deputy Inspector-General of Police Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.

Speaking as a panelist at the National Border Security Seminar 2023 in Cyberjaya yesterday, he said the effectiveness of Sosma could be seen, among others, in the successful efforts to curb human trafficking syndicates while he was the Johor police chief. 

"At that time, the use of Sosma was effective in combating these syndicates, and the arrests not only included the smugglers but also enforcement officers in cahoots with the syndicates," he said. 

He said that current laws on cigarette and liquor smuggling were less effective in curbing such activities.

"Like in Johor before this, police arrested the same individual 10 times over the same case. Sosma must be used for crimes involving syndicates, it is only then we can arrest and cripple them," he said. 

Sosma provides for special measures relating to offences against the country to maintain public order and security.

It was proposed in 2012 to replace the Internal Security Act 1960, which allowed for detention without trial and has since been repealed. 

In August, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Ramkarpal Singh said the government's efforts to look into improving Sosma were almost complete.