KOTA BARU: The state Veterinary Services Department is stepping up checks to curb the smuggling of poultry from Thailand following the outbreak of bird flu there.

The checks will target commercial vehicles passing through the checkpoints along the Malaysian-Thai border for frozen chicken.

Director Dr Mohd Zairi Serlan said the checks were conducted jointly with help from the General Operations Force and the state's Anti-Smuggling Unit.

"We are keeping a close eye on the traffic movement at border checkpoints as we suspect that farm operators in Thailand may dump the chickens here. The ban on poulty imported from Thailand is still on and we are constantly on the alert to prevent the disease from speading here."