Photo from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption CommissionThe Malaysian government is in a state of shock after five senior officers of the Malaysian Defense Intelligence Organization, its elite secret security safeguard, were arrested late last week along with several others including two former officers turned journalists in a massive smuggling operation dubbed “kind of a Walmart of contraband” that had been operating for as long as five years.Among the arrested after a year-long probe was Colonel Muhammad Haris Asmuni, the director of the Counter-Intelligence Security Detachment, who along with his comrades has been accused of trading sensitive Malaysian military operational secrets to the smuggling syndicate, allegedly amassing as much as RM3 million (US$714,000) in bribes.As Asia Sentinel reported in 2023, the Malaysian military is among the region’s weakest, riddled with corruption, poor planning, and interference by political leaders in procurement, no longer a potent force even in managing low-level intensity conflict. The discovery that five of its elite intelligence officers were trading operational data to aid a smuggling operation has to add to the malaise.The speculation is that the intelligence officials were relaying the position of military vessels and units in the southern area of Johor Bahru across the strait from Singapore to allow smuggling vessels to elude them while bringing contraband into the country. Four unnamed companies have been linked to the smuggling of prohibited goods, an indication that the suspects were passing the contraband into respectable-looking hands for resale.The investigation, known as Ops Sohor, focused on the southern part of the country, bearing out that theory. The five were said to be members of the country’s primary intelligence agency, entrusted to gather and protect information on the Royal Malaysian Navy, the Air Force, and the Army, which would have put them in an ideal position to observe the movements of the entire Malaysian military. Authorities have frozen bank accounts belonging to 12 individuals, as well as 24 accounts linked to an unnamed company totaling RM155,609.77, Azam told reporters.Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, on taking office in 2022, augmented the military budget by 10 percent. But as the International Institute for Strategic Studies reported in 2024, “In the past, Malaysia had sporadic bilateral tensions with Indonesia and Singapore, but it effectively opted out of military competition with both countries after the Asian financial crisis seriously undermined its economy and defense budget over 25 years ago. The contingencies to which Malaysia’s armed forces might conceivably need to respond are largely of a low-intensity type.”Piracy, armed robbery, illegal fishing by foreign countries, pollution and safety at sea and unauthorized military activities are among major security issues facing the country, wrote military analyst B A Hamzah on Asia Sentinel on October 9, 2023. “A weak Navy and the poorly equipped Air Force and the Maritime Enforcement Agency have encouraged illegal activities at sea including the occasional harassment of economic activities by foreign elements.”Added to the military misery, according to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission head Azam Baki, 10 individuals are under arrest including three lieutenant colonels, a captain, two former military officers now working for an unnamed news website, a company manager, an administrative assistant from the Malaysian Medical Association, and an Indonesian woman said to be the mistress of the intelligence ringleader.The operation was carried out beginning August 13 by the MACC Intelligence Division with assistance from the Anti-Corruption Tactical Squad, raiding sites around Kuala Lumpur and its suburbs. Azam described an operation that smuggled drugs and cigarettes with an estimated value of around RM5 million (US$1.18 million) per month, with bribery payments to the senior officers ranging from RM30,000 to RM50,000 per operation. More than RM63,000 in cash, packets of drugs, weighing and measuring equipment, liquor, and imitation firearms were seized from raided premises.Azam told a press conference that the two suspects who were described as “journalists” were, in fact, social media personnel who had former military backgrounds and had been acting as facilitators by leaking sensitive operational information to the smuggling syndicate. Azam told the national news service Bernama that the MACC has reason to believe the unnamed media company is being used as a front to enable and facilitate money laundering activities.The investigation is continuing, he said, with no new arrests made as of now, although the MACC is sifting through evidence that could potentially link other individuals.“If further connections to money laundering or other illegal activities are found, we will pursue additional leads,” Azam confirmed, although he said that there are no further arrests pending at this stage. He said his agency is not ruling out the possibility of cross-border networks, sensible enough given that the contraband had to come from somewhere outside the country.“If top-secret information can leak into the hands of smugglers, who can guarantee that neighboring countries' spies or international smuggling cartels and criminal networks aren't laughing hysterically at our defense weaknesses?” asked a Kuala Lumpur source. “Imagine – the head of a counter-intelligence unit, who should have been the hunter of foreign spies, is now a wolf in sheep's clothing.”