LAHAD DATU, April 1 — The Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) seized a total of RM33.291 million worth of controlled goods and drugs in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) last year, said its commander, Datuk Hamzah Ahmad.

He said the seizures resulted from ESSCom-coordinated land and sea operations, with the implementation of 1,401,593 inspections on individuals, vehicles and boats that led to 1,003 arrests made for various offences.

"The important element to the success of security operations last year was the good cooperation between the security team and community in the ESSZone,” he said in his speech at the gathering held in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of ESSCom, here, today.

According to Hamzah, ESSCom continues to excel in defending the sovereignty of the east coast region of Sabah and tackling various cross-border crimes, including kidnapping for ransom.

"The last kidnapping case involving ransom and the Abu Sayyaf group occurred in the ESSZone on Jan 15, 2020, and is one of the reasons for the continuous strict security protection, including the implementation of curfews in waters of seven districts in the ESSZone (Tawau, Semporna, Kunak, Lahad Datu, Beluran, Kinabatangan and Sandakan),” he said.

Apart from that, he said the government has done its best to increase security protection in the ESSZone by building and upgrading security posts for the past 10 years.

"This year, the state government has allocated RM100 million for demarcation empowerment, in addition to building a surveillance system at sea for the purpose of monitoring the movements of the ESSZone maritime community,” he said. — Bernama