Malaysian officials hunt social network gangsters

Malaysian authorities have started a hunt for gangs seeking to recruit vulnerable students via Facebook and other social networking sites. A report on Malaysia's The Star newspaper quoted authorities as saying that the gangs promise protection, organize illegal races, and offer free booze to students who join them. The Home Ministry has mobilised the police, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, and other related agencies to track down these gangs, the report added. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein vowed a massive crackdown to stop gangsters from recruiting school students. “The ministries, including the Information, Communications, and Culture Ministry, the commission and the police will be brought in to tackle the issue. They all have their own expertise and it is just a matter of coordinating them to achieve the goal," he said. Hishammuddin stressed that the authorities view gangsterism seriously and would act accordingly, in the same way that they have dealt with terrorism, transnational crime, drug trafficking and money laundering. “They are all related and are a serious threat not only at the national level but also the international level," he said. — TJD, GMA News