KUALA LUMPUR: Police said they have crippled a cross-border human trafficking syndicate with the arrest of 11 suspects, including the mastermind, and discovery of 66 victims this month.
Bukit Aman Special Branch Deputy Director II Commissioner Datuk Cheong Koon Kock said the 10 other suspects had acted as agents and transporters for the syndicate.
“Bukit Aman Special Branch initiated the operation to weed out human-trafficking syndicate activities from Sept 22 to Sept 25,” he told a press conference at the Bukit Aman police headquarters here today.
“The mastermind is a local. Of the 10 agents, five were locals, and the others were Myanmar nationals,” he added.
“We believe the syndicate trafficked victims smuggled here via a land route through Sungai Golok and then into Rantau Panjang in Kelantan,” he added.
Cheong cited Tuesday’s incident as part of Bukit Aman’s investigation into human trafficking syndicate too.
In the incident, a local man was shot dead after trying to run over a policeman in his Perodua Alza following a pursuit that ended in Puchong.
Selangor police chief Datuk Noor Azam Jamaludin had said the man was part of a human trafficking syndicate and that his movements were traced from Kelantan.
“This is in line with the Special Branch’s ongoing efforts to track down and weed out human trafficking syndicates that have operations here,” Cheong added.
He said the syndicate had been active since April this year.
“Investigations also revealed that the syndicate is believe to possess dangerous firearms and are also involved in distributing drugs,” he explained.
He said the trafficked victims, upon arriving in Malaysia, would be sent to work mostly in the farming sector in Penang, Kelantan, and within the Klang Valley.
“With the arrests, Bukit Aman believe that it has crippled a human trafficking syndicate which sees Malaysia as a destination country,” he said.
