Gangs recruiting students through social media content, influencers - Police

KUALA LUMPUR – Criminal gangs have been found using social media applications to promote their group’s activities in an effort to attract new followers, particularly among teenagers and school students.

Bukit Aman, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) deputy director (intelligence/operations), Datuk Fadil Marsus said the use of social media applications was one of the latest approaches used by these criminal gangs.

“Previously, criminal gangs were only detected using face-to-face tactics to recruit students outside school premises,” he told Sinar Harian on Friday.

Fadil said these gangs or illegal organisations now used influencers with large followings to attract the interest of teens and students.

“This approach is part of the effort by criminal gangs or illegal organisations to draw in new followers by targeting teenagers and school students.

“Most of them follow the social activities showcased by these popular influencers through social media content,” he said.

He added that the Anti-Vice, Gambling and Secret Societies Division (D7) has identified this as a new tactic used by criminal gangs.

“Therefore, we (CID) want a firm strategy to combat and prevent attempts by these gangs as part of our preventive efforts,” he said.

Fadil stressed that prevention is crucial before teenagers and school students get involved in criminal activities.

“We have also identified certain criminal groups being promoted on the social media pages of these influencers.

“We do not rule out the possibility that these influencers are either members of the illegal organisations they are promoting or they may have been paid to upload the activities of these gangs, such as meetings between group members across the country,” he said.

He explained that monitoring and investigations are ongoing and legal action under existing laws would be taken if any offences are found.

“Only criminal activities that generate income can sustain a gang’s survival, which also requires a large number of followers or ‘underlings.’

“To survive, they will engage in crimes such as robbery, extortion, gambling, and human trafficking. They also participate in illegal business activities, including smuggling contraband (cigarettes, alcohol, rice, sugar, diesel, and fireworks),” he said.

In terms of extortion, Fadil said criminal gangs often claim to offer protection to business owners while they are the ones creating the threats.

“They will harass and attempt to rob those they claim to be protecting, then stage a counter-attack, pretending to defend the victims under the guise of offering protection—in exchange for money,” he said.

Although it is difficult to completely eliminate illegal organisations or criminal gangs, the police are using all available legal provisions under the Penal Code to take action based on any offences committed or linked to these groups.