Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the criminals escaped to Thailand to avoid being detained under the Prevention of Crime Act (Amendment and Extension) 2013 (Poca) and the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (Pota).

“We will flush out criminals, especially those involved in organised crime who come to Thailand to hide and avoid the Poca and Pota.

“We will discuss with Thailand on the various approaches to curb cross-border crime and arrest criminals,” he told reporters upon his arrival here for a two-day working visit to Thailand.

Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said the issue of Malaysian criminals hiding in Thailand was one of five issues of focus during his visit starting today.

He said the second issue involved efforts to combat militant activities, especially those involving Islamic State (IS) members, who used Thailand as a transit point to enter Malaysia.

“There are those (IS members) from Malaysia who have made Thailand their transit point to go to a third country,” he said.

As such, he said efforts to be intensified would involve an exchange of intelligence and operational information between the security forces of the two countries.

The deputy prime minister said he would also inform the Thai side on the setting-up of the Malaysian Border Security Agency (AKSEM) in place of the Smuggling Prevention Unit (UPP) to tighten control at the border, which he said, should be empowered by both countries.

Meanwhile, he said the issue on “Trafficking In Persons” (TIP) would be discussed in his meeting with leaders of Thailand tomorrow.

He said this was because Thailand had become a buffer state for human trafficking syndicates before the victims were smuggled into Malaysia.

“Malaysia is not the source of the problem (human trafficking), but other countries and maybe Thailand could assist,” he said.

He said the final issue he would be discussing with his counterparts concerned the 107 Thai nationals imprisoned in Malaysia for their involvement in drug syndicates.

Among these, a total of 30 Thai nationals were facing the gallows in Malaysian prisons for drug offences, he said.

Tomorrow, Zahid is scheduled to have separate meetings with the two Deputy Prime Ministers of Thailand, Wissanu Krea-ngam and Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, who is also the Defence Minister, before leaving for Kuala Lumpur.