KUALA LUMPUR: A human smuggling syndicate has been busted following the detention of 18 people, including 15 undocumented Indonesians, in several raids conducted in Kelantan.
Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud said the operation, codenamed Op Gelombang 2, was carried out in Jeli and Gua Musang at about 3.15am on Monday.
“We detained three local men aged between 39 and 60, whom we believed were acting as the transporters for the human smuggling syndicate.
“We also detained 12 Indonesian men and three Indonesian women aged between 12 and 54.
“They had just entered Malaysia via Sungai Golok.
“All of them have been sent to transit homes,” he said in a statement here yesterday.
Initial investigations revealed that the syndicate would transport undocumented foreigners by flying them from Indonesia to Thailand before bringing them into Malaysia via Sungai Golok, Khairul Dzaimee said.
“Each foreigner had to pay between RM6,000 and RM7,000 to enter Malaysia.
“They would then be brought to areas outside Kelantan such as the Klang Valley, Melaka and Penang to work illegally while the women would be employed as massage parlour workers or sex workers,” he added.
Khairul Dzaimee said the transporters were paid between RM150 and RM250 for each foreigner they transported.
“The syndicate has been active since May last year and they have been targeting undocumented foreigners from Indonesia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and India, who hoped to work illegally in Malaysia,” he said.
“We believe at least 160 undocumented foreigners are being brought in each month, costing the government RM1.7mil in losses over uncollected foreign workers levy.”
