PASIR MAS: The Kelantan Immigration Department has detected the existence of a handful of agents believed to be using fake stamps to manage the entry of Thai workers into the country.
Its director Mohamed Yusoff Khan Mohd Hassan said the anomaly was detected after his department detained six road tour vehicles that entered the country through the Rantau Panjang Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Complex.
He said during the operation carried out this afternoon, immigration checked a total of 42 Thai nationals, comprising 21 men and 21 women, aged between 20 and 30.
“From the inspection, we found that the stamp on the passport of a male driver in his 20s was suspicious because there was no exit stamp from Thai immigration. He was detained while the other two did not have any valid travel documents,“ he said here on Tuesday (August 5).
Mohamed Yusoff Khan said the stamp on the passport owned by one of the drivers was suspected to be fake and irregular and the case is being investigated under Section 56(1)(i) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
He added that two other Thai nationals were also arrested for entering the country via an illegal route by crossing Sungai Golok before boarding a rented vehicle heading to the Klang Valley and Kuala Lumpur.
He said both of them were being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and would undergo a documentation process to identify the offences and the modus operandi they used to cross the border.
“Investigations also revealed that some of the Thai nationals who were checked actually had passports, but chose to take the risk of crossing the Sungai Golok without reasonable excuse,“ he said.
According to him, each Thai national is believed to have paid about RM80 each to an agent to be sent to the Klang Valley.
“Most of them work in tomyam restaurants and the construction sector. For those with valid documents, we allow them to continue their journey after inspection,“ he said. - Bernama
