Immigration busts Ampang syndicate smuggling migrants through Johor, NS

Immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban said the special operation on Wednesday followed public tip-offs and intelligence work. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

The immigration department has busted a syndicate in Ampang, Selangor, that had smuggled migrants through ungazetted entry points in Johor and Negeri Sembilan.

Immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban said a special operation was held on Wednesday following public tip-offs and intelligence work, leading officers to intercept a Perodua Aruz being used to transport undocumented migrants.

He said that the driver, an Indonesian woman, was transporting two compatriots who had recently arrived in Malaysia, Bernama reported.

“Four Indonesian men and a woman in a parking area were also inspected. They were believed to have boarded the same vehicle, and admitted that they were about to be sent back to their home country through an ungazetted entry point,” he said.

Zakaria said the human trafficking ring had offered to bring in or repatriate migrants for up to RM4,500 per person.

He said the agents or transporters involved were also Indonesian, and that most of the migrants would be picked up from areas in Johor and Negeri Sembilan.

Immigration officers also raided the premises used as a shelter and transit point for migrants illegally brought into the country, where they found a woman believed to be a victim of exploitation.

Zakaria said the woman, who appeared frail, had been handed over to an agent by her employer to be sent back to her home country.

Officers also discovered multiple copies of passports belonging to other migrants.

Investigations are being conducted under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007. - FMT