SOP violators on the rise with at least 500 arrests daily on May 1 and 2: Ismail Sabri

PUTRAJAYA: The number of standard operating procedure (SOP) violators is on the rise, with police arresting 519 individuals in the latest enforcement rounds.

Among offences reported to have been committed on Sunday (May 2) were failure to register details when entering premises (207), not wearing face masks (50), no social distancing (72), and participating activities at entertainment centres (60).

In his daily announcement on Monday (May 3), Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said 508 of those arrested were slapped with compounds while the remaining 11 were remanded.

On May 1, authorities arrested 500 individuals and on April 30, 286 people were nabbed.

The task force monitoring SOP compliance carried out 63,513 checks on Sunday, including at supermarkets (4,462), restaurants (5,098), factories (2,160), banks (3,978), government offices (1,256) and hawkers (3,977)

On Ops Benteng, Ismail Sabri said enforcement authorities arrested two smugglers and seized two land vehicles on Sunday.

“Authorities also detected the presence of 175 vessels in Malaysian waters during seven sighting activities,” he said.

Ismail Sabri, who is also Defence Minister, said 1,100 individuals arrived at international entry points on Sunday and were all sent to quarantine stations.

Cumulatively since July 24, a total of 183,682 individuals who returned to the country were sent to hotels and other facilities to observe quarantine.