MELAKA: Police detained seven individuals for alleged involvement in human trafficking and rescued 14 others believed to be victims of forced labour here on Friday (March 27).
Melaka police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Dzulkhairi Mukhtar said two raids were carried out by a team from the D3 Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (ATIPSOM) Division, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from Bukit Aman, at Taman Klebang Besar and Jalan Tengkera here at about 1am.
"In the operation, seven suspects aged between 19 and 38 were detained, comprising a man from China, a Taiwanese woman, a Myanmar man, and four women from Myanmar, the Philippines and Indonesia.
"All suspects were arrested under Section 12 of the ATIPSOM Act 2007 for allegedly being involved in forced labour exploitation activities, and are also being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63,” he said in a statement.
DCP Dzulkhairi said that in the same operation, police also rescued 14 victims aged between 25 and 36, comprising seven men and six women from the Philippines, as well as one woman from Myanmar.
He said initial investigations found that all the victims were believed to have been trafficked for forced labour exploitation in online scam activities.
"The victims were initially promised jobs as customer service personnel, but upon arriving in the country, they were forced to be involved in the scam activities.
"They were also believed to have been subjected to debt bondage, with their passports confiscated by the management, placed under strict control and not allowed to leave, and were even forced to work overtime against their will,” he said.
DCP Dzulkhairi added that all those arrested, as well as the victims, had been handed over to the investigating officer at the Melaka Tengah district police headquarters for further action.
"An application for an Interim Protection Order (IPO) for the 14 victims has been made for 21 days starting today until April 16, 2026,” he said.- Bernama
