KUALA LUMPUR: Several illegal immigrants were arrested during a raid at the Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) here.
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud, in a statement, said that the raid was conducted early Tuesday (Jan 3), following information that the group illegally entered Malaysia via the border in Kelantan.
"Just as they reached (TBS), the operation team conducted sweeps on two buses.
“One of the men arrested, a Myanmar national, was detained for suspicions of being the lead person to escort the group from the Kota Baru bus station," he said on Thursday (Jan 5).
A total of 11 people were arrested - five from Myanmar and six from India - including a woman. All were aged between 20 and 58.
Further checks showed that none had valid entry stamps to enter the country with four Myanmar nationals having no documents at all.
"One of the people detained, an Indian national, had been blacklisted from entering the country over a previous offence.
"The syndicate's modus operandi would include using public transport terminals as transit centres to smuggle illegal immigrants.
“The suspects confessed that they had not reported themselves for immigration inspections when entering the country.
"Their purpose of coming to Malaysia was to work in Kuala Lumpur, which had already been arranged by the syndicate. They claimed that they had paid RM7,000 to their agents in their country of origin to arrange their entry into Malaysia," he said.
All have been brought to the Putrajaya immigration depot for further action.
