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PASIR MAS – Four men, including a Myanmar national, were arrested by police earlier today on suspicion of being “transporters” and “agents” for smuggling of illegal immigrants into the country.
Pasir Mas district police chief Mohd Nasaruddin M Nasir said with their arrest, police were led to a homestay in Kg Cherang Hangus here, at about 1.20am today, where 24 Myanmar nationals, comprising six women and 18 men, were found.
He said the Myanmar nationals were arrested following the arrest of two men, aged 24 and 22, in a suspicious looking car which was stopped by police in Kg Repek here.
Following inspection, it was found that the number plate of the car was false and the chassis number had been tampered with, he said, adding that the 24-year-old suspect tested positive for methamphetamine and also had five previous criminal records.
“Both suspects admitted to being the ‘transporters’ to bring in the Myanmar illegal immigrants into Malaysia, where they, and a Myanmar national known as ‘Apik’, had picked up the Myanmar nationals at an illegal jetty in Lubok Gong here.
“The 24-year-old suspect also admitted that only he and his brother, who also acted as a ‘transporter’, know Apik,” he said in a statement today.
Nasaruddin said police have raided a house in Lubok Setol where they arrested the 24-year-old suspect’s younger brother, aged 22, before arresting “Api’”, who is in his 40s and holds the UNHCR card, at an unnumbered house in Kg Tasik, Rantau Panjang.
The case is investigated under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007. – Bernama, January 29, 2022