A major migrant-smuggling syndicate that moved undocumented migrants from the Thai border into the Klang Valley was dismantled at daybreak yesterday after Immigration Department officers intercepted a convoy of vehicles in Kota Baru. The network was allegedly run by a Malaysian kingpin known as “Mat Sero.”
The strike, carried out at 5.52am on Dec 8, followed three months of intelligence gathering and involved 20 officers from the Special Tactical Team, the Intelligence and Special Operations Division, Immigration headquarters and the Kelantan state office.
Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said enforcement teams blocked eight vehicles believed to be transporting migrants at a public parking area.
“Several transporters tried to escape, ramming into cars — including our officers’ vehicles — before they were stopped. Some migrants fled into nearby bushes but were successfully tracked down,” he said in a statement.
Authorities arrested three Malaysian men, including the suspected mastermind “Mat Sero,” along with a Myanmar man believed to be a transporter.
A total of 35 Myanmar migrants — 22 men, 12 women and a five-year-old girl — were also detained.
Eight vehicles were seized, including a Mitsubishi Triton, Toyota Cross, Toyota Innova, Toyota Rush, Isuzu D-Max, Nissan X-Trail, Toyota Voxy and Proton X90, as well as three mobile phones.
Zakaria said the syndicate used hidden routes along the Kelantan border, where Myanmar transporters moved the migrants to Malaysian drivers who then brought them to designated drop-off points in the Klang Valley.
Migrants were charged RM400 to RM500 per person, and the operation is believed to have run weekly for at least six months.
The Malaysian and Myanmar transporters are being investigated under Section 26A of ATIPSOM 2007, while the 35 migrants are being probed under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
All detainees have been taken to the Kelantan Immigration Office for further action.
Zakaria said efforts are ongoing to trace other members of the network and emphasised that the department will act firmly and without compromise against migrant-smuggling activities.
