Immigration dept busts syndicate bringing in Bangladeshis through Singapore

 

The two suspects detained by immigration officers at the transit house in Johor Bahru. (Immigration Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

The Johor immigration department has dismantled a human trafficking syndicate charging RM13,000 per person to smuggle Bangladeshi nationals into the country.

Johor immigration director Rusdi Darus said this followed a raid on a transit house at Larkin Indah, Johor Bahru, on Thursday, Bernama reported.

Two Bangladeshi men, aged 37 and 42, were arrested during the operation codenamed Op Serkap. They are believed to be the caretakers of the house and facilitators for the syndicate.

Rusdi believed that the syndicate had been smuggling in the Bangladeshi nationals for the past two months.

Each person was charged RM13,000 for travel from Bangladesh to Malaysia through Singapore.

“Several Bangladeshi passports, RM14,500 in cash and a vehicle were seized,” he said.

The raid followed an earlier operation that led to the arrest of a Bangladeshi man suspected of being smuggled into Malaysia through the Sultan Abu Bakar Complex in Iskandar Puteri.

In a separate case, Rusdi said they rescued two Filipino children – a 12-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl -suspected of working at a factory in Senai, Kulai, on Thursday.

The factory’s human resources officer was arrested.

Both cases are being investigated under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (Act 670) and the Passports Act 1966 (Act 150). - FMT