PETALING JAYA: Immigration officers have halted a syndicate that had been trafficking children to Europe, says department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh.
He said that the syndicate was halted after its modus operandi was detected following the arrest of a local husband and wife, aged 26 and 37 years old, respectively, on April 12 in Kuala Lumpur.
Ruslin said in a statement on Wednesday (April 19) that the syndicate will convince parents into bringing the birth certificates of their 12-year-old child to the Immigration office in the guise of making a passport.
"However, when at the counter, the child that was brought will instead be one of a similar age from Sri Lanka and that child will be sent for photo-taking and fingerprint recording," he said.
Ruslin said that the suspect who led the syndicate would also be the "transporter" that would bring the Sri Lankan children who have successfully obtained a passport to Europe.
"Investigations are underway to trace and determine how many children had been involved and how long the syndicate had been in operation.
"Based on preliminary investigations, the syndicate had been paid between 30,000 and 50,000 euros (RM145,906.18 to RM243,176.97) for each child that has obtained a passport and escorted to Europe," he said.
The couple were busted after going to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department branch after they had attempted to obtain a passport.
They were stopped after discrepancies were found during the application process and an officer proceeded to interview the child.
The child failed to communicate in Bahasa Malaysia and had distinct facial differences from the suspects.
Both suspects have been charged on Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur and will be held at the Kajang prison until May 11 for case mention.