PUTRAJAYA, Sept 6 — Three Malaysians, believed to be masterminds of the illegal Immigration agent syndicate, were among eight individuals arrested in a special operation by the Malaysian Immigration Department in Putrajaya, Selangor, and Kuala Lumpur.
Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said the other detainees are believed to be the syndicate members and they comprised an Indian national man, three Vietnamese nationals (a man and two women), and a Sri Lankan woman.
The eight suspects, aged between 22 and 42 years, were arrested in a two-day special operation which ended yesterday.
"The modus operandi of the syndicate is to target foreigners in the Klang Valley by offering services that deal with the department, including passports, Social Visit Passes, Temporary Work Visit Passes, Professional Visit Passes, and visas.
"The fee imposed is between RM500 and RM1,100," he said in a statement today.
A preliminary check found that the Vietnamese man had a passport that was still valid, while the two Vietnamese women and the Sri Lankan woman had overstayed.
The Indian national was found to have no valid travel documents. During the operation, the Immigration team seized a total of 209 passports issued by various countries.
Ruslin said the passports include those from India (131), Sri Lanka (22), Bangladesh (18), Indonesia (10), Vietnam (10), Nepal (eight), Pakistan (six), and Myanmar (four).
Also seized were four vehicles — a Proton X70, a Proton Exora, a Nissan Almera, and an Audi.
The foreign nationals had been sent to the Bukit Jalil Immigration Depot for investigation under Section 6(3), Section 15(4) and Section 56(1)(l) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, while the Malaysians are being investigated for an offence under Section 12(1)(f) of the Passport Act 1966.
— Bernama
