GEORGE TOWN, Oct 31 — Police detained a former politician who had contested in the 14th general election (GE14) for involvement in a case of human trafficking in a series of raids in Penang and Kedah since October 27.

Penang police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the man in his 50s who claimed himself to be a Datuk, was arrested in his house in the northeast district here at 8.25pm yesterday following the arrest of 10 other individuals in the raid.

“Acting on information and intelligence obtained over the past two weeks, police arrested a man in a raid at a shop in Simpang Ampat, Nibong Tebal, near here, on October 27 and rescued seven victims in the premises which had been turned into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre.

“Several other raids were conducted by Penang and Kedah contingent police and they (raids) resulted in the arrest of six men and a woman, as well as the rescue of three men before the raid on the house in the northeast district and the arrest of the ‘Datuk’ together with a woman and man as well as rescuing three men,” Mohd Shuhaily said in a press conference here today.

He said those detained comprised nine men and two women who were caretakers and workers at the rehabilitation centre while the rescued victims were men aged between 22 and 62.

Mohd Shuhaily said initial investigations found the man who was suspected of being the syndicate’s mastermind is the centre’s founder and he did not win when he contested for a parliamentary seat and state assembly seat in GE14.

He said police found that even though the rehabilitation centre had been operating for two years, it was not registered with any government department.

According to him, all victims claimed that they were tortured, beaten as well as forced to work without wages and holidays, and chained up. They said they were only given a small amount of food while the centre was equipped with closed-circuit cameras to monitor their movements.

“We also seized several items including a laptop, nine handphones, two iron chains, a PVC pipe and two iron rods attached to a bed,” he also said.

Mohd Shuhaily added that all the suspects have been remanded to assist in the investigations. — Bernama