KUALA LUMPUR: The Immigration Department has detained nine individuals in Kajang, Selangor, for suspected involvement in a migrant smuggling syndicate.
Director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban confirmed the arrests were conducted last Friday and involved five Indonesian men, two Indonesian women, and a local married couple.
Enforcement officers seized four Indonesian passports, seven mobile phones, one thousand four hundred and fifty-five ringgit in cash, and a Perodua Alza vehicle used in operations.
“Checks showed two of the Indonesians had overstayed, while five others had no valid documents,” Zakaria stated in an official release.
He revealed the syndicate had been active for two months under the name ‘Takor’ and targeted undocumented Indonesians in Klang Valley wanting to return home.
The couple allegedly posed as e-hailing drivers to transport migrants to a safehouse awaiting boat departures from illegal jetties.
“The syndicate charged between one thousand five hundred and two thousand ringgit per person,” he added.
Authorities are investigating under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 and Immigration Act 1959.
In a separate case, immigration arrested a thirty-two-year-old Bangladeshi woman operating the ‘Key Malaysia’ website for allegedly defrauding eVISA applicants.
Zakaria stated the suspect charged two to three times the normal rate through a website mimicking the official immigration portal.
