Police have launched an all-out war called "Ops Cantas Khas" against former Emergency Ordinance detainees who are still actively involved in crime.

The operation, launched nationwide last Saturday night, is to detain individuals who have links with gangsters or organised crime, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said.

NONE "Those detained will undergo various screening processes, including their past criminal records, urine tests, body checks, vehicles used, traffic offences and their residences will also be checked," today's issue of Berita Harian quotes Khalid as saying.

Khalid said 11 hot locations in the Klang valley, five in Kuala Lumpur and six in Selangor, have been examined.

He said suspects or individuals detected in the police operations who are linked to gangsters or organised crime, will be detained for 24 hours under the Prevention of Crime Act.

"Focus will be on their involvement in organised crime after they have been identified, based on the logo on their vehicles or any suspicious signs that point they are members of such groups," Khalid said, adding the operation is conducted by a special Bukit Aman team, while in the districts it is led by an assistant superintendent.

The daily also reported that members of the public welcomed the police operation and that the force has received full cooperation from the public.

There has been a surge in crime incidents of late, which the police and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have blamed on EO detainees who were released in 2011.