PUTRAJAYA: The Immigration Department has busted a syndicate offering fake travel documents and stamps for work permit renewal purposes catered to foreign workers.
Its director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said separate raids in Subang Jaya and Kuala Lumpur led to the arrest of three foreigners on Sept 5 and 6.
The first two suspects, a Pakistani man and an Indian woman, were detained in USJ 1 after an inspection on their vehicle found 20 copies of fake Temporary Employment Visit Pass (PLKS) stickers.
“Further questioning led to a second raid on Jalan Raja on Sept 6 at around noon where another car was stopped. A Pakistani man was arrested and it is believed that he is the leader of the group. A further 30 PLKS stickers were found during the arrest,” he said at a press conference at the department headquarters here on Monday (Sept 9).
Following their arrests, the department raided the home of one of the suspects on Jalan Desa Bakti, where 16 foreign passports and a fake Malaysian passport were found.
Several equipment used to create the fake PLKS stickers were also found including fake immigration stamps that the suspects created.
A fake Malaysian IC and driver’s licence were also seized.
“All three suspects are aged between 44 and 50 years old. Checks show that both the Pakistani suspects are holders of valid PLKS while the Indian woman had overstayed,” he said.
Investigations are underway to determine if the employer of the two Pakistani men had broken any immigration laws as well.
“We will call their employer in the next day or so,” he said.
Investigations showed that the group would sell their services to foreigners from source countries such as Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. They would use social media to find interested customers and charged between RM150 and RM300 for the PLKS stickers.
Other passes ranged between RM800 to RM1,000.
All suspects have been sent to the Bukit Jalil Immigration depot for further questioning.
In an unrelated matter, Ruslin said that as of Sept 6 the department had launched 13,833 operations, leading to 32,445 illegal immigrants arrested.
“We have also deported 28,625 people in that time frame. As of Sept 6, there are currently 16,072 people held in the depots,” he added.
