THE Malaysian Immigration Department busted a prostitution syndicate giving “outcall girl” services, arresting 48 foreign women, including teenagers, in a special operation at three separate locations in Kuala Lumpur last night.
Deputy director-general (operations division) Jafri Embok Taha said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to promote the sex services of the women by using their photos through the Telegram and WhatsApp applications.
“The foreign women who were selected were arranged for delivery to a hotel or another place desired by the customer with each order through a local man who acted as a ‘transporter’.
“The fee charged to the customer ranged from RM400 to RM1,200 according to the package provided and payment transactions were made in cash or online before the ‘outcall girl’ was handed over to the customer,” Jafri said.
The results of the investigation thus far also found that the syndicate was suspected to have been operating since a year ago, he added.
The women who were arrested consisted of 32 Indonesians, 13 Thais and three Vietnamese aged between 18 and 36 years old.
The operation which started at 8pm also saw the arrest of an Afghan man and a local man believed to be acting as “transporters”, as well as two more local men acting as caretakers of the premises where the women were found. These men are aged between 34 and 44 years.
“Preliminary checks found that the eight Thai women who were detained have social visit passes that are still valid, while the others do not have any valid travel documents or passports to be in the country.
“The operation team also seized a number of condoms, sex tools, eight Thai passports, RM300 in cash, towels, CCTV equipment and a Perodua Axia car,” Jafri said in a statement today.
He said that the special operation involved a team of officers and members from the Intelligence and Special Operations Division of the Immigration Department’s headquarters in Putrajaya.
“This operation was carried out following complaints and intelligence compiled over two weeks. Based on the information obtained, the operation team was put together to move into the premises and carry out the raids,” he said.
Commenting further, Jafri said that all the foreigners have been detained for further investigation in accordance with the Immigration Act 1959/63, the Passport Act 1966 and the Immigration Regulations 1963.
They were taken to the Semenyih Immigration Depot, Selangor, while a local man was detained to assist the investigation under Section 55E of the Immigration Act.
This clause makes it unlawful for occupiers of a premises to permit illegal immigrants to enter or remain there.
Two more local men were arrested on suspicion of committing an offence under Section 56(1)(d) of the Immigration Act, while a total of five local men were given notice to appear at the office to assist with the investigation, Jafri said.
Section 56(1)(d) stipulates that anyone who “harbours any person whom he knows or has reasonable grounds for believing to have acted in contravention of this act, except section 55E” shall be guilty of committing of an offence. – The Vibes, January 7, 2024
