PUTRAJAYA, Aug 19 — The Malaysian Immigration Department today revealed that it has successfully busted a syndicate of illegal agents that offered immigration services such as social visit pass extensions during a special operation that raided several locations in the Klang Valley and Negeri Sembilan on August 15.

Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said that his department has never appointed any agents to carry out their services.

"Based on the intelligence carried out for two weeks, the operation team has managed to arrest four Malaysian men, two of whom are the main masterminds of this syndicate. The arrest also involved two female Chinese citizens suspected of being members of the syndicate.

"Also arrested was a Chinese man believed to be a client of the syndicate and a Filipino woman who was a maid for one of the main masterminds. All of them are between 33 years old and 53 years old. A total of eight people were arrested,” he said in a press conference, here.

A special operation was conducted on August 15 where it raided seven different locations, namely Cheras, Mid Valley City, Desa Pandan, Taman Midah, Sungai Besi in Kuala Lumpur, Sepang in Selangor and Bandar Enstek in Negeri Sembilan.

Ruslin said the syndicate targets Chinese nationals seeking Long-Term and Short-Term Social Visit Pass facilities to stay longer in the country.

Preliminary investigations determined that foreign nationals sought this service because of its "hassle-free” nature.

"The syndicate uses the WeChat application and social media to promote their services. The fee charged starts at RM1,200 for the Special Pass facility and can reach up to RM15,000 for the Long Term Social Visit Pass facility. For every service and delivery, it is done using a courier service or hand delivery. This syndicate is believed to have been operating for a month.

"We have laws and procedures in the country. Foreigners can always go to our offices and renew it there. Our fee is also low as compared to these agents where they put servicing fees from RM1,500 to RM15,000,” he said.

Ruslin said investigators seized 107 international passports of various countries, which will be used to track their owners.

"It's against the law to hand over your passports to another party,” he said.

Also seized were application forms for visiting passports, over RM80,000 in local and foreign currencies, and five cars including two BMWs.

Four Malaysian men and two Chinese women were arrested on suspicion of committing an offence under Section 12(1)(f) Passport Act, while a Chinese man and Filipino woman were arrested on suspicion of committing an offence under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act.

For offences under Section 12(1)(f) Passport Act leads to punishment if convicted of a fine not exceeding RM10,000t or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or both.

Whereas for offences under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act leading to punishment if convicted of a fine of not more than RM10,000 or imprisonment of not more than five years or both and liable to lashes of not more than six lashes.