The Marine Police will receive 200 more boats for deployment in Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) in an effort to beef up control of Malaysian waters.

Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the boats, to be sent in stages, would ensure the 1,700-km area from Kudat to Tawau were guarded from outside threats.

"So far, we have received 70 boats while 29 more are in the purchasing process. We will continue to work closely with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) in operations at border areas," he told reporters after launching 68th Marine Police Day celebration here, today.

The number of Marine Police assets deployed by security agencies in Malaysia-Thailand and Malaysia-Indonesia waters were adequate to curb transnational crimes.

In line with the increase in the number of boats, the Marine Police will see its strength reaching about 2,000 members nationwide.

Earlier, Khalid said the seizure of goods by the Marine Police was rising annually with over RM32 million worth of goods seized up to June this year.

"In 2013, RM45 million worth of goods were seized and rose to RM171 million in 2014," he added.

Marine Police also detained 1,480 illegal immigrants up to June this year.