Malaysia has deported more than 700 fraud suspects and arrested 28 Chinese-national IS suspected militants over the past years, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed on Thursday.

Hamidi, who is in Beijing for an official visit, explained that the close contact between China and Malaysia was the main contributor to the success of capturing such syndicates.

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The Borneo Post reported that at least 744 Chinese nationals were deported for their involvement in fraud and gambling cases in Malaysia, which accounted for 20 billion yuan ($28 billion).

He added that China had also played a massive role in the fight against terrorism in the country citing shared intelligence as a great factor.

Thus far, some 28 Uighur militants, who are members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, have been detained in Malaysia and deported back to China. According to Today Online, Hamidi revealed that the suspects were on their way to Iraq, Syria, and Turkey and had used Malaysia as a common passing point to get to the various locations.

"Chinese intelligence shared their information, including biometrics with us," he added. "The militants were detained before they could leave Malaysia."

He went on to explain that the 28 militants were part of 260 terror suspects detained under the Special Measures Against Terrorism in Foreign Countries Act 2015.

"They have been arrested because of their involvement in ISIS. From that number, 30 were foreigners and the rest Malaysian nationals."

He concluded that the Chinese government had assured Malaysia of their support and was gratified for the arrest and deportation of Chinese criminals. He further encouraged that frequent talks should be conducted locally and internationally.

Tagschina, Malaysia, gambling, terrorism, ISIS, Uighur, ETIM