24 minutes
KUALA LUMPUR: The arrest of a man who facilitated the setting up of illegal gambling and prostitution call centres run by Chinese syndicates here last week led police to the arrest of 138 people in the Klang Valley.
Federal police CID director Commissioner Datuk Huzir Mohamed said today that the arrests were made after 12 Chinese-run calling centres were busted by police since Saturday.
He said 55 of those held will face charges for illegal gambling activities while the rest will be held under laws of the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca).
Huzir said the suspect who is known as Addy Kana and another suspect who is still at large and identified as Alex Goh Leong Yeong had allegedly aided the call centre operators in setting up their base in Malaysia.
He said the men catered to the logistic needs of the syndicates.
Huzir said Addy who has a previous criminal record for robbery is being held for 21 days under the Poca and will have his detention extended by another 38 days.
He said a search for Goh and other calling centres linked to him are ongoing.
Huzir said investigations are also being carried out to ascertain if claims that celebrities and politicians were involved in the activities of the suspects are true.
Asked what and why Chinese illegal syndicates are making their way to Malaysia to operate their activities, Huzir said that apart from China’s hard-hitting operations against such syndicates in their country, there are several factors that contributed to it such as reliable multimedia facilities, the visa-on-arrival privilege and easier adaption with the local Chinese community.
