PETALING JAYA: Two men from a human trafficking syndicate were arrested for transporting nine illegal immigrants at the Damansara-Puchong highway here on Saturday.
Petaling Jaya police chief ACP Mohamad Fakhruddin Abdul Hamid said today that policemen patrolling the highway had spotted a car with foreigners and suspects crammed inside travelling near the Penchala toll plaza at about 11.20am.
He said the patrolmen found the vehicle had an expired road tax on checking its records and ordered it to pull over.
Mohamad Fakhruddin said a high-speed chase ensued when the driver of the car refused to do so.
He said the five-kilometre chase ended at Jalan SS2/67 when the driver was forced to stop after crashing into two cars.
“The local suspects, aged 31 and 36 jumped out of the car and tried to flee on foot but were arrested by police after a short chase. On checking the car, we found eight men and a woman, all foreigners aged between 22 and 43 crammed inside with their luggage. They were smuggled into Malaysia to work at several factories in Malaysia.” Mohamad Fakhruddin said.
He said the suspects were held under laws of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA) and are being investigated for human-trafficking while the foreigners who did not possess any travel documents were detained for immigration offences.
Meanwhile, the police pursuit did not go down well with a road user who lambasted the police with profanities in a posting on Twitter.
The Twitter user who claimed to have witnessed the chase in SS2 here alleged that many cars were damaged after being hit by a police car involved in the pursuit.
Mohamad Fakhruddin said checks showed that no police patrol car had hit any vehicle during the chase.
He said a police report was lodged against the Twitter user over the posting.
Mohd Fakhruddin said an investigation for the misuse of network facilities under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) and for offences under the Minor Offences Act is underway.
“We urge the Twitter user who goes by the handle “zulisfine” to come forward to assist in the investigations,“ he said.