KUALA LUMPUR: Three local men were arrested when they were caught providing transportation to illegal immigrants in an operation codenamed Op Gelombang 2 in Jeli and Gua Musang, both in Kelantan, last Monday.
Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud, in a statement today, said three vehicles were seized and 15 illegal immigrants, all Indonesians aged between 24 and 54, who were believed to have arrived from a neighbouring via Sungai Golok, were detained in the operation.
Based on information and intelligence, the syndicate’s modus operandi was for the Indonesian immigrants to enter Thailand by air from Indonesia and then crossed into Malaysia via Sungai Golok before they are picked up by the “transporters” to transit homes, he said.
He said the immigrants were believed to have paid between RM6,000 and RM7,000 each to enter Malaysia.
“The immigrants will then be taken to certain destinations outside Kelantan such as the Klang Valley, Melaka, Penang and Johor Bahru to work illegally, with the women as masseurs or prostitutes,” he said, adding that three local men were employed as “transporters” and paid between RM150 and RM250 for each immigrant.
Khairul Dzaimee said the syndicate was believed to have been active since May 2022 and targeted immigrants from Indonesia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and India .
He said an estimated 160 migrants were brought into the country illegally by the syndicate a month.
Their actions caused the government losses of RM1.7 million in revenue in the form of foreign worker levy collection, he added. - Bernama
