Immigration Dept cripples human trafficking syndicate

PUTRAJAYA: The Immigration Department has crippled a human trafficking syndicate and rescued 14 Bangladeshi citizens in a raid on a residential premises in Ampang near Kuala Lumpur.
Its director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said three suspected Bangladeshi agents, who were allegedly responsible for managing their arrivals and controlling the premises, were also nabbed based on public information and intelligence at about 5pm today.
He said the raid found 20 mobile phones belonging to the victims which were stored in a room and cash of RM28,500 which was kept by one of the syndicate members.
"During the raid, it was found that the premises was locked from outside for the purpose of duping the authorities. The raiding team had to break down the main door to enter the premises.
"After successfully entering the premises, the team carried out an inspection and found that all the victims were placed in two rooms in a congested condition," he said in a statement here today.
He added that a team of officers from the Special Operations Intelligence Division and Analysis, assisted by officers from the Putrajaya Immigration headquarters' Division of Investigation Operations and Prosecution, conducted the raid.
Mustafar said the syndicate's mode of operation was to keep all the victims in the premises and then sell them to employers who are willing to take the victims to work by paying the price set by the syndicate.
He said the department believed that the syndicate had long been involved in the activity based on the modus operandi used and was believed to have links to a migrant smuggling syndicate which was crippled in December last year. — Bernama