SIBU: Commercial crime, which involves huge losses, is a cause for concern in Sarawak.
"A form of crime that is quite worrying of late is commercial crime or fraud involving thousands and even millions of ringgit in losses.
"The police, through the Sarawak Commercial Crime Investigation Department, is responsible for investigating commercial crime cases such as fraud, criminal breach of trust, forgery, illegal money lending, counterfeit money and others," said Sarawak Commissioner of Police Datuk Mancha Ata.
Speaking at a community policing programme on Monday (Feb 26), Comm Mancha said last year, a total of 2,958 commercial crime cases were recorded compared to 2,461 cases for the same period in 2022.
He said for January this year, a total of 240 reports were received involving losses of RM7.8mil.
"Commercial crime losses throughout Sarawak in 2023 was more than RM117mil, which is an increase of RM51.2mil compared to 2022," he said.
Comm Mancha reminded the people to be on the alert against cyber or commercial crimes.
He said the government and the police have provided several facilities to prevent commercial crimes such as the creation of the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) hotline at 997.
The public can contact the NSRC to check and verify information regarding cyber fraud.
On drug abuse, he said police, via the Narcotics Crime Investigation Department, are committed to combat drug trafficking activities to ensure that the society remains safe, peaceful and prosperous.
He said in 2023, a total of 1,152 arrests were made in Sibu compared to 895 arrests in 2022.
"From the statistics, we can see that drug abuse is a problem that must be dealt with urgently," he said.
