PADANG BESAR, July 25 — Police have arrested two main suspects, aged 39 and 41, believed to be the masterminds of the Bang Sun and Along Lubuk gang syndicates involved in the smuggling of undocumented migrants into the country.

Padang Besar District police chief ACP Mohd Shokri Abdullah said police arrested a manual labourer believed to be the main suspect from the Bang Sun Gang in Kubang Geruh, Titi Tinggi at 11pm last Friday.

"The suspect was travelling in a Honda Civic car and the police inspection found a foreign man hidden in the car boot,” he told reporters here today.

He said police also stopped a Proton Pesona car but the suspect fled.

"Eight foreign men who were in the front and back seats of the car were detained,” he said.

He said a separate raid conducted on Monday (July 24) led to the arrest of two local suspects believed to be a 39-year-old main suspect and a 45-year-old guide around Padang Besar.

He said the arrest was a follow-up to the police’s success in arresting five foreigners along with a local at the Wang Kelian Viewpoint route on Sunday (July 23).

He said the syndicate was known as Along Lubuk Gang and the main suspect was a masseuse and had been involved in ketum smuggling activities.

"The investigation found that the two syndicates charged between RM7,000 and RM12,000 per person,” he said.

He said the four suspects were remanded for 28 days, while all the illegal immigrants were detained for 14 days for further investigation.

Mohd Shokri said the case was investigated under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (ATIPSOM) 2007 and Section 6(1) (c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.

He said throughout this year until yesterday, the Padang Besar police managed to arrest 66 illegal immigrants from various nationalities at the Malaysia-Thailand border. — Bernama