KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Police did not detect any betting activities in illegal motorcycle races as reported by a local newspaper yesterday titled ‘Lumba haram kembali, hadiah hingga RM450,000’ (Illegal street racing returns, prize money up to RM450,000).
Bukit Aman Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department (JSPT) director Datuk Mat Kassim Karim said so far no arrests had been made under the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca) involving betting activities.
He said this in response to a report by a local newspaper on the return of illegal racing activities in and outside the Klang Valley involving huge amounts of bets after a two-year hiatus following the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to him, from April till now, a total of 390 Samseng Jalanan Ops had been carried out by the JSPT Intelligence and Operations Unit, involving the detention of 602 illegal riders under Section 42 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 and Section 81 (3) of the same act.
“The Bukit Aman JSPT is actively combating illegal racing since the country entered the Transition to Endemic Phase on April 1.
“Most of these illegal races are concentrated on the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban North-South Expressway Project (PLUS), Shah Alam Expressway (Kesas) and the Federal Highway,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He said the frequent operations carried out enabled police to locate new hotspots in the Klang Valley.
“The JSPT is also tracking down workshops responsible for modifying the motorcycles of riders involved in illegal racing and betting throughout the country and strict action will be taken,” he said.
He added that the JSPT is also working on establishing information-sharing cooperation with the Criminal Investigation Department to address the issue of street thugs and other related offences.
“Last year, a total of 1,569 operations were carried out, with 2,560 arrests made and 24,481 summonses issued while 3,370 motorcycles were seized by police,” he said.
— Bernama
