PUTRAJAYA, Feb 19 — Four immigration officers believed to have been in cahoots with migrant smuggling syndicates were arrested in a special operation, ‘Op Kenyalang’, in Serian and Bintulu last Friday.
Immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said the four, aged 35 to 45, were detained at 9.45 pm at the Tebedu Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) complex.
“Based on three-month surveillance and intelligence, it was found that the officers removed the security stamp from the foreigners’ passport to ensure their safe travels,” he said in a statement today.
He said in the same operation, a total of 63 Indonesians, aged 22 to 52, comprising 37 men and 26 women, were nabbed in a separate raid in a residential premise and during an inspection on a bus in Bintulu.
He added 30 of them, including a man, believed to be a 38-year-old syndicate mastermind, were arrested at the house, used as a transit house. Cash amounting to RM 25,000 and three million Indonesian Rupiah was also seized.
“The Indonesians detained were previously blacklisted from entering Malaysia and all of them had a flight ticket to Kuala Lumpur,” Khairul Dzaimee said.
He added that further checks on two buses in Bintulu town led to the arrests of 33 other Indonesian nationals, he said.
Khairul Dzaimee said initial investigations revealed that the syndicate had made a profit of more than RM80,000 per month by charging RM5,000 to RM6,000 for each migrant who wanted to enter the country.
“The syndicate, which has been active for almost eight months, arranges the entry of blacklisted foreigners with the help of immigration officers, with 30 to 40 people involved for each entry.
“The immigrants will be then taken to the syndicate’s designated transit house before being taken to airports and deported to Peninsular Malaysia via domestic routes,” he said. — Bernama
