He said the police understood the sentiments of those who had to line up or be stuck for two to three hours at roadblocks, but said that the move was necessary to ensure that the government’s directives to break the Covid-19 infection chain were successful.

“We do not want anyone to slip past or lie to us at these roadblocks, because people are using various tactics now, showing us all sorts of letters, such as using a work pass to go home.

“At a roadblock in Bentong (Pahang) recently, a van carrying 15 people claimed to be heading to Terengganu for work, but when we checked further, it turned out they were using work passes to go back to their hometowns for the holidays.

“Things like this are occurring now. People are trying their hardest, using various tactics,” he said during the Op Kontraban press conference today.

Rahim said this when asked about the possibility of confrontations between motorists and the police due to severe traffic congestion at roadblocks nationwide, some of which went viral on social media recently.

He also disclosed that the police had issued over 100,000 compounds since March 18 last year for various violations of SOPs and related laws.

“The majority of compounds issued were related to not wearing face masks and not practising physical distancing. Currently, SOP compliance operations are more focused on nightclubs which have reopened,” he said.