Kelantan police report a rise in commercial crime losses and e-commerce scams, despite an overall drop in the state’s crime index.
KOTA BHARU: Kelantan recorded losses of RM33.47 million in commercial crime from January to August this year, an increase of RM5.97 million compared with RM27.50 million reported during the same period last year.
Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said the number of commercial crime cases also rose from 1,100 to 1,921, an increase of 821 cases.
He said one of the most significant increases was in e-commerce scams, which rose from 260 to 657 cases, while other cybercrimes also increased from 287 to 444 cases.
“This trend shows that crime is increasingly changing in line with technological developments. Therefore, our actions must also change rapidly, particularly in prevention and public awareness,” he said in his speech at the monthly assembly at the Kelantan contingent police headquarters here today.
However, Mohd Yusoff said the overall crime index for the Kelantan contingent from January to August this year fell three per cent to 1,213 cases compared with 1,251 cases during the same period in 2025.
He said violent crime also declined 11 per cent from 310 to 276 cases, while property crime fell from 941 to 937 cases.
On the drug threat, he said narcotics cases decreased 13 per cent from 18,427 to 16,044 during the period, while arrests fell 10 per cent from 19,469 to 17,579.
He said the value of drugs seized also declined 31.49 per cent from RM25.47 million to RM17.45 million, as a result of more systematic and focused efforts to combat the threat.
In terms of prevention, Mohd Yusoff said the state police continued to implement various approaches, including MPV and URB patrols, AMANITA, community policing programmes and networks with relevant agencies.
He said community participation through the Volunteer Smartphone Patrol (VSP) also needed to be further strengthened, with 150,019 people having registered as VSP members in the Kelantan contingent as of Aug 31.
He said efforts to engage with young people should also take into account the influence of screens, social media and the digital world, which increasingly shape their lives, while maintaining face-to-face interaction to build public trust.
Mohd Yusoff said these ongoing efforts were important to ensure that public safety was always safeguarded, in line with the police’s responsibility to maintain peace in the state.
