Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the home ministry, through the National Registration Department (NRD) and police, is closely monitoring such activities.
“We have opened investigation papers on the syndicates and also made some arrests,” he told reporters after visiting the Sabah police headquarters in Kepayan here today.
He said the NRD and Immigration Department were also closely watching the entry points, especially at airports, to detect holders of fake MyKads.
“In fact, I have ordered the Immigration Department to do a random scanning on MyKads to detect whether travellers are using authentic papers or otherwise.
“Not a single day goes by without some kind of operation or enforcement action,” Zahid said, adding the authorities had yet to detect fake MyKads in other states.
It was reported that forged Malaysian MyKads were easily attainable and high-risk elements, such as terrorists, could use them to infiltrate the country and remain undetected.
Suspected Islamic State terrorists from the Philippines were reported to have easily secured these falsified documents.
A suspect, who was detained by counter-terrorism operatives, claimed the papers were bought in Sabah.
On why Sabah seemed to be the focus for syndicates distributing such illegal documents, Zahid said this was because the state received large numbers of foreign workers from neighbouring countries.
“There have been no arrests made in other states so far but this doesn’t mean we are not watching.
“The NRD has a unit and it is collaborating with the police to monitor the situation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Zahid said his ministry was looking into refurbishments and maintenance of police barracks in 20 police district headquarters and five General Operations Force (GOF) battalions in Sabah.
These also included those in Sabah’s remote areas, he added.
Earlier, Zahid inspected a guard-of-honour at the Sabah police headquarters. Present were Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman and Sabah deputy police commissioner Razarudin Husain.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/03/20/fake-mykads-for-sale-in-sabah/