KUANTAN: After Johor police deployed buses to block escape routes for illegal street racers last month, their counterparts here mobilised unmarked police vehicles to nab traffic offenders along the Jalan Tun Ismail intersection over the weekend.
Plainclothes policemen parked the vehicles without the department's logo at the traffic light junction to block motorists from fleeing in the operation dubbed 'Op Samseng Jalanan'.
Despite policemen blocking the four-lane stretch, some motorcyclists were caught escaping on their machines by riding against the flow of traffic.
Kuantan police chief Assistant Commissioner Wan Mohd Zahari Wan Busu said the six hour operation which ended at 4am on Sunday involved policemen from the district Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Division's Highway Patrol Unit.
He said policemen on the ground were in disguise, appearing to be members of the public, while officers arrived in unmarked police vehicles and their own cars to assist during the operation.
"A total of 152 cars and motorcycles including two four wheel drive vehicles were inspected and policemen issued a total of 119 summonses. The offences included driving with no valid licence, no road tax, registration plate numbers which did not follow specification and modified exhaust pipes," he said, adding no arrests were made during the operation.
On Sunday, a video showing policemen stepping out from unmarked vehicles before flagging down several cars for inspection at a traffic light junction in the state capital made its rounds on X (formerly Twitter).
Wan Mohd Zahari said similar enforcement operations will be continued to curb reckless driving behaviour and illegal racing around the town centre.
In a Facebook post, the department condemned motorists who drove as though they are the only ones who "own vehicles" saying it posed a threat to other road users and spectators who gathered with young children at the busy junction.
"There are several beaches for leisure activities in Kuantan but they still choose the roads."
On Aug 26, Johor Baru (south) police deployed a new tactic by deploying two buses to physically block escape routes for illegal street racers.