Busted ISIS cell smuggled weapons for attacks
KUALA LUMPUR: An Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror cell has been smuggling weapons into Malaysia from Thailand and stockpiling them for a year to prepare for attacks on home soil and abroad.
The cell, based in Kelantan, was exposed when police arrested six people in a nationwide swoop.
Two members of the cell were arrested in Kelantan in March while another, Muhammad Muzaffa Arieff Junaidi, managed to escape to Golok, southern Thailand.Sources said he acted as an intermediary with an ISIS cell in Thailand.
Four other ISIS militants were detained in Malacca, Penang, Johor and Selangor by the Bukit Aman Counter Terrorism Division between March and last month.
Sources said among the types of weapons smuggled by the cell were pump guns, Colt M4 carbine and Glock pistols.
The swoop in the five states also led to the arrest of a 26-year-old college student at KL International Airport on April 4. She had gone to Turkey last year with the intention of going to Syria to join ISIS, but was detained by the Turkish authorities.
On April 20, a 41-year-old jobless man was held in Malacca while a 32-year-old woman, who worked as a factory technician, was arrested in Johor.
They were actively promoting ISIS propaganda via the Google+ application.
The last arrest was of a 41-year-old man in Penang on April 25. He was believed to have promoted the ISIS struggle via 15 Facebook accounts since 2014.
Police believed he was planning to attack mosques in Penang. - THE STAR
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