Cops detain bird's nest factory owner, three staff

The police have arrested the owner of Maxim Birdnest in Klang over alleged human trafficking activities.

Hadzwan Zulkifli from Bukit Aman's anti-human trafficking unit said three Malaysian staff were also arrested during the raid on a factory involving various agencies.

Among others, the raiding team involved officers from the Home Ministry's Anti-Human Trafficking Council, Bukit Aman D7 unit, Selangor police, Putrajaya Immigration and Labour Department.

He did not name the factory owner but Malaysiakini in a special report last week identified him as Albert Tei, 29.

"He was arrested under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, the Immigration Act and several other offences," Hadzwan told Malaysiakini.

All four arrested will be handed over to an investigating officer who will apply for remand to facilitate investigations, Hadzwan said.

He said there were 156 foreign workers at the factory, the mostly from Indonesia while the rest were from Myanmar. The other 17 workers are Malaysians

Expediting probe

He said some of the workers were rescued for being suspected human trafficking victims while others were investigated for violating terms on their work permits.

"The human trafficking victims will be temporarily placed at a government shelter while investigations are ongoing.

"Once completed, they will be sent back to their country," he said.

Hadzwan also said the police were initiated investigations several few weeks ago following a tip-off.

"But this case was exposed in the media and became an issue in parliament so we had to take quick action even though our initial investigations have yet to be completed.

"We have to do it quickly so the people involved does not dispose of any evidence," he said.

Salary increase

The raiding team arrived on site at about 10.45am and as of 7pm, officers involved were still conducting headcounts of workers who were made to line-up outside the factory.

All of the workers' belongings were  packed in luggages, ready to be taken away.

Many of the workers were seen clutching soft toys and pillows and appeared unsure of what was going on.

One of them told Malaysiakini that she was just given a raise from RM900 to RM1,000 in basic salary but has yet to receive it.

Two days after Malaysiakini and Tempo magazine from Jakarta visited the factory to interview Tei over allegations made against him, it was revealed that a memo was issued to announce improvements in the workers conditions, including raising their minimum salary to meet the national minimum wage of RM1,000.

Immigration Department director-general Mustafar Ali was also present during the raid.- Mkini