JOHOR BARU: Two more enforcement officers have been detained over a "flying passport" scheme at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex here.
The latest arrests by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) bring the total number of enforcement officers detained in the case to four.
The suspects are believed to have received bribes amounting to RM3,000 as part of a syndicate that stamps passports without the holders being physically present at the border.
The four men, aged in their 20s to 40s, were detained at the Johor MACC office on Saturday (July 26) following investigations into misconduct at the checkpoint counters at BSI CIQ.
According to a source, two officers were initially arrested by the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS) during a surprise inspection at the BSI complex on Friday (July 25) before being handed over to the MACC.
"Following their arrests, two more officers were detained for abetting the crime.
"The suspects are believed to have received about RM200 for each passport stamped," said a source.
Initial investigations uncovered 14 foreign passports, four mobile phones belonging to the two main suspects and around RM3,000 in cash believed to be bribes.
When contacted, Johor MACC deputy operations director Hairul Ilham Hamzah confirmed the arrests, adding that the case is being investigated under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009.
"All four suspects will be brought to the Johor Baru Magistrate's Court on Sunday (July 27) morning for a remand application," he said.
On Saturday, AKPS BSI CIQ commander Roszita Dim said the first two male suspects were detained on Friday following a covert surveillance operation by the AKPS compliance unit that began at 3pm on the same day.
"Our operation targeted the team on duty at the CIQ complex, where suspicious activity was first detected around 7.30pm at the vehicle zone counter at the entry checkpoint.
"Investigators observed several questionable entries of visitor data using an officer's login credentials at the counter, including data linked to foreign nationals flagged as problematic visitors.
"These entries triggered manual data correction by one of the suspects," she said.
Roszita added that another instance of suspicious data clearance involving a problematic visitor was detected at around 9pm.
She then said that in this incident, the ID of a supervisor's user stationed in the motorcycle zone was used.
"A search at the vehicle zone counter uncovered RM2,800 in cash and two mobile phones in one of the suspect's possession.
"The investigation then led to a concealed stash of 14 foreign passports, with 11 belonging to Chinese nationals and three to Indonesian nationals, hidden inside a black bag above the ceiling at another counter," she said.
A "flying passport" refers to a tactic where passports are carried – often by third parties – across borders without the physical presence of their holders.
The passports are then returned to their owners, who enter the country through unauthorised channels.
This method allows problematic individuals to bypass immigration checks and security protocols undetected.
