PETALING JAYA: Seven Bangladeshi men believed to be involved in human trafficking were detained following an operation at a service apartment in Taman Maluri, Kuala Lumpur. Immigration Department director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the operation was carried out by the department's anti-trafficking in persons and anti-money laundering division.
He said five of those arrested were aged between 27 and 44, believed to be smuggled migrants, while two others, aged 28 and 56, were suspected to be a caretaker of a safe house and a transporter for the syndicate.
"All seven individuals are Bangladeshi nationals. Initial investigations found that the migrants' passports did not contain valid Malaysian entry stamps," he said in a statement on Thursday (Jan 22).
Zakaria said a car believed to have been used to transport the migrants was also seized. He added that the suspects have been brought to the Immigration Department headquarters in Putrajaya for further investigations under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 and the Immigration Act 1959/63.
The operation was conducted based on intelligence on smuggling activities involving Bangladeshi nationals who allegedly entered the country illegally through routes in Kelantan.
"Further investigations revealed that the migrants are linked to the Iqbal Syndicate, a migrant smuggling network that was recently dismantled in Kelantan. The syndicate is believed to be involved in smuggling migrants via land routes," he said.
He added the premises in Taman Maluri were being used as a temporary safe house for migrants who had recently arrived from the east coast of the peninsula.
"The migrants are believed to have entered the country through illegal land routes near the Malaysia-Thailand border before being sent to their next destinations," he said.
