This comes after a Datuk, a policeman, and nine others from the same syndicate were charged with involvement in a criminal organisation at the Kota Kinabalu sessions court yesterday.

Deputy inspector-general of police Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the former policeman was identified as Haibil Kiraman, who retired from the police force on Nov 1, 2021 and was last seen in Tawau.

The rest are identified as Sahairul Sabudin and Absar Musa, both aged 38; Filipinos Hasan Syamsuddin @ Nas Botak, Joel Edwin @ Dedek, Sing Harun Musa @ Thambi and Mana Ungok @ Mike; and an Indonesian woman Rohani Yunus @ Karisa.

The ages of the foreign suspects are unknown.

“The police froze 42 bank accounts amounting to RM1.86 million from Dec 27, 2023 to Jan 19, 2024,” Ayob said in a media conference, adding that police also froze the syndicate’s assets worth more than RM9 million.

In a separate comment on the increase in police misconduct, Ayob defended the police’s recruitment practices, stressing however that those for supervision must be fine-tuned.

“The recruitment SOPs are complete. Many of those involved in crime were behaving well when recruited. Maybe the temptation was too much for them,” he said, adding that they would not compromise with policemen involved in crime.