Immigration authorities have uncovered a migrant smuggling syndicate operating out of a condominium in Kuchai Lama, following a raid by the Immigration Department (JIM) yesterday.
The syndicate, active since December, allegedly smuggled foreign nationals into Malaysia for RM12,000 per person via Kelantan, generating an estimated RM1.2 million in profits.
Immigration Director-General Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the operation led to the arrest of a local man and a Bangladeshi national suspected of acting as transporters for the group, known as “Geng Sojul.”
“The first raid was carried out around 1:30pm when two four-wheel-drive vehicles and an SUV were intercepted in a supermarket parking area on Jalan Kuchai Lama,” he said. “Inside the vehicles were six Bangladeshi men, one Bangladeshi woman, and one Myanmar man. Additionally, 20 foreign nationals suspected of being smuggled were detained.”
Further inspection of the condominium revealed 12 Bangladeshi men, aged 18 to 49, believed to have recently arrived from a neighboring country and awaiting transfer to southern states and the Klang Valley.
Authorities seized two four-wheel-drive vehicles, an SUV, multiple Bangladeshi passports, RM82,100 in cash, and US$3,700 in foreign currency.
All detainees have been placed at the Putrajaya Immigration Depot for further investigation under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, the Immigration Act 1959/63, Immigration Regulations 1963, and the Passport Act 1966.
