KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Aman has nabbed 36 people in raids on a "swingers" ring which lets its members swap partners and take part in group sex.
The syndicate, headed by two men – a Singaporean and a local – is believed to have been operating since early this year, promoting its services online.
After surveillance and intelligence gathering beginning in June, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) along with relevant agencies including the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) raided a condominium unit in Mont Kiara at about 8.30pm on Sunday (Aug 25).
CID deputy director Deputy Comm Fadil Marsus said 34 people were detained in the raid.
"Among them were university students, civil servants, a French citizen, a Chinese citizen, a Nigerian, as well as individuals from the Czech Republic and the Philippines.
"Further investigation led us to raid a condominium in Puchong, where a Singaporean and a local man, believed to be the ringleaders of the syndicate, were detained.
"They (would also) collect subscription fees from customers," he told a press conference at CID headquarters on Friday (Aug 30).
Various items were also seized, including sex toys, mobile phones, computers and cash.
The two ringleaders were also the administrators of the online platform promoting the services, he added.
"On top of organising swingers' events, the syndicate would also upload pornographic videos and photos to their website.
"Investigations showed that the ring has some 147,000 subscribers.
"Each customer is charged RM388 to become a subscriber.
"For (sex parties) organised by the syndicate, each customer is charged RM400 if they arrive alone and slightly less if they bring a partner," he said.
To be accepted as a subscriber, the customer has to go through a video interview process conducted by the syndicate, DCP Fadil added.
"Notification of group sex events would go out to customers a day earlier," he said, adding that these events would begin with a "meet-and-greet" session.
"Group sex would take place in three rooms with boundaries and rules set by the organisers," he added.
The syndicate would hold these events in different condominiums to evade the authorities, he said.
"While no married couples were nabbed, we are not ruling out the possibility that there might be some among the subscribers.
"The youngest individual nabbed is a 19-year-old woman," he said.
Some customers had participated in at least five swingers' events, he said.
"One woman participated frequently until the syndicate hired her as a co-host.
"We will investigate further to arrest the remnants of the syndicate.
"We believe other online platforms are running similar services. We will track them down and arrest them," he said.
DCP Fadil said police need the cooperation of the public to bring those organising such activities to book.
"We will conduct further operations based on intelligence gathering as well as information from the public," he said.
