KUALA LUMPUR: The use of drones is effective in helping the police to ensure security and maintain control at the country’s borders, as well as to record pictures and videos as evidence.

       Bukit Aman Department of Internal Security and Public Order director Comm Datuk Zainal Abidin Kasim said for that reason, the police needed more high-tech drones to help in the increasingly challenging responsibilities.

       He said drones of high power and quality could fly for up to two or three hours and could cost about half a million ringgit per unit.

       “Many successful seizures have been done with the help of drones. However, the use of drones differs according to the area and the activities.

       “The one used in Bukit Kayu Hitam, Kedah, for example, would not be the same as the one used in Gua Musang and Sungai Golok, Kelantan.

       “In Zone A (which is a coastal area of up to 1,000km), the use of drones is very relevant because it is just not practical to deploy an enforcement team to cover such a large area,” he told Bernama.

       He said drones were also able to maintain surveillance at a certain crime scene while the enforcement team carried out the arrests.

       He said the police were aware that smuggling syndicates were purposely letting their “small boats” to be seized at a certain coastal area as a decoy while they bring in “larger boats” of contraband items or even migrants via other routes.

       “So high-powered drones is what is needed in such areas and also for the border areas in Sarawak that we know are hilly and mountainous. — Bernama