PASIR MAS: Police will wait for its Thai counterpart to complete their investigations into the case involving six Malaysians caught with drugs in Sungai Golok sub-province.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Malaysian police will also conduct their own investigations on whether the six had committed crimes in this country, particularly Kelantan.
"We will let the Thai police carry out their investigations first and will not interfere at the moment.
"l was informed by the Kelantan police chief that they have been remanded for up to three months.
"In our part, the police will check whether they have breached the country's rules like leaving Malaysia to Thailand using the legal route or rat lanes," he said after the closing of Madani Prison Commissioner General's One Leader One Village programme at SMK Tanjong Bunga here today.
Present were Prison commissioner general Datuk Nordin Muhamad, Malaysia Control and Border Protection Agency (MCBA) director-general Datuk Seri Hazani Ghazali and Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat.
Saifuddin said the offences committed by the Malaysians were another issue that needed to be resolved once they returned to Kelantan.
He added that people must respect the law of the country they are visiting.
"The suspects involved in the case were our people, but the crimes have happened in the country (Thailand) and the law where the crime took place will be the one that applies.
"So based on the principle of rule of law and sovereignty, the Thai police have the right to do so at the national level," he added.
On Nov 1, six Malaysians including a popular dikir barat moden singer, were arrested in Sungai Golok sub-province for alleged possession of 6,000 pills.
The six, comprising three women and three men, were detained by the Thai police in a raid on a hotel in the border town.
Following the arrests, the Narathiwat Provincial Court had granted police a further detention order of up to three months or 84 days against the six to enable police to carry out their investigations into the case.
'The six are currently held at Narathiwat Prison.