Police rescue six, arrest nine in raid on suspected human traffickers

KUALA LUMPUR: Police here have rescued five women and one man believed to be victims of human trafficking in a raid of a serviced apartment in the city on Monday (Jan 17).

Petaling Jaya district police chief ACP Mohamad Fakhruddin Abdul Hamid said nine suspects aged between 20 and 50 were arrested and a luxury car was seized.

He said police mounted the raid following a report lodged by a local teenager on the same day at 12.20 pm involving her mother's female foreign worker who had been abducted by two local men and a foreign woman in a luxury car.

He said in a statement on Saturday (Jan 22) that the complainant claimed that she and the victim were in the vicinity of Damansara Utama when they were pulled into the car.

However, the complainant was later released not far from the location where they were grabbed.

Mohamad Fakhruddin said both male suspects were detained at an entertainment outlet here at about 5.30 pm on the same day, adding that the suspects then led police to the serviced apartment.

The victim was found along with four other women and a man aged between 20 and 40.

He said seven suspects, comprising five men and two women were arrested at the premises and remanded for five days.

ACP Mohamad Fakhruddin said that all arrested are being investigated under Section 365 of the Penal Code for kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person.

The preliminary investigation has revealed that one of the suspects is a foreign worker agent who had deceived the victims to work without pay,” he said.

He added that all the victims were locked up at the premises for several days and beaten and some of them were kept there for trying to run away from the employer.