MIRI – Immigration authorities have busted a syndicate specialising in trafficking migrants into Sarawak to work illegally in the state, and rescued 12 Indian nationals who had been smuggled into Miri and Sibu.
A special operation was carried out by a joint team of immigration enforcement units from Putrajaya and Sarawak from August 19 to 22.
It led to the arrest of a Sarawakian man and four men from India, all of them aged from 25 to 40.
Immigration Director-General Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said the Sarawakian man arrested is believed to be the mastermind, and the four men from India his facilitators to bring in migrant workers illegally.
“The Sarawakian man and his four Indian accomplices were found to be in the process of trafficking a group of 12 Indian nationals for the purpose of working illegally in this state.
“Initial investigation showed the suspects charged between RM20,000 to RM25,000 to each foreigner who wanted to enter Sarawak to work.
“The suspects have been operating since May 2022 after national borders were reopened (following the Covid-19 pandemic),” he said in a statement.
Ruslin said that the suspects offered jobs to the migrants and smuggled them into Malaysia via Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and then into Sarawak via the Miri and Sibu airports.
During the special operation, the enforcement units seized from the suspects some cash, 75 Indian passports, seven Indonesian passports, three Myanmar passports, several computers, and three vehicles used in the human trafficking activities in the state, Ruslin said.
The five suspects are being remanded and probed under anti-human trafficking laws.
The 12 rescued Indian nationals are being sheltered in a safe location while the probe is being carried out. – The Vibes, August 27, 2023
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