KUALA LUMPUR: A section of Jalan Semarak was cordoned off in the early hours of today (Jan 1) as police conducted a major operation against mat rempit here.
City Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Zamzuri Mohd Isa said the operation was conducted following intelligence and complaints that they had shifted their 'tracks' and tactics to that thoroughfare following past operations targeting their usual haunts in Kuala Lumpur.
"Based on our checks, even though the New Year celebrations had ended, there were hundreds of motorcyclists gathered along Jalan Semarak.
"We deployed 53 personnel at around 3am today to cordon off the road and block them inside," he told reporters at the scene.
He said initial checks revealed that many of the motorcycles had been illegally modified.
Some did not have brakes, while others had modified exhaust pipes.
"We will bring all these motorcycles and their owners back to the police station for more stringent checks.
"In total, we checked 147 motorcyclists and nine cars, which led to the seizure of 38 motorcycles," he said, adding that they also issued 92 summonses.
Mohd Zamzuri said other hotspots being monitored by police are Jalan Tun Razak and the Duke Highway.
"We are aware that a number of these mat rempit have taken to social media to post content of their dangerous activities.
"We don't want these individuals encouraging or goading others into joining them.
"We are working on identifying these individuals, especially those posting such content via TikTok," he said, advising motorists to refrain from participating in such activities that endanger their lives as well as those of other road users.
He said based on their initial observations, many of these motorcyclists caught today were youths who were either in secondary school or institutes of higher education.