PETALING JAYA: The immigration department has broken up a human trafficking ring in Sarawak promising jobs on ships, director-general Ruslin Jusoh said.
He said officers carried out a special four-day operation, known as “Ops Dudley”, from Aug 19 and five members of the gang were arrested.
Ruslin said they included the leader, a 40-year-old local male known as “Dudley”, assisted by four male Indian nationals, aged between 25 and 40.
“This gang is believed to have been active since May 2022 after border entry points reopened following the pandemic.
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Ruslin said they had rescued 12 male Indian nationals and they are now under “protective accommodation”.
He said the victims were each required to pay RM20,000 to 25,000 to the gang to be brought into Malaysia.
Immigration officers seized RM600 in cash, 75 Indian passports, seven Indonesian passports, three Myanmar passports, four laptops and three vehicles.
Ruslin said the suspects had been remanded for seven days for smuggling migrants under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, with the four Indian suspects held at the Semuja immigration detention centre.
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