KUALA LUMPUR: The syndicate that smuggled foreigners through KLIA paid a group of Immigration officers up to RM3,500 for each person allowed to bypass inspections, a source has revealed.
The source said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission was able to uncover the scheme through months of intelligence and undercover work.
This ultimately led to the dismantling of the syndicate with the arrests of 12 people during Op Pump on Tuesday.
Those arrested included five immigration officers, four of whom have been remanded.
The source said the graft busters have not yet determined the amount of bribes given by the syndicate as the money was not transferred to the accounts of the suspects and the varying number of people smuggled into the country each they.
"Perhaps they 'learned' from the 'mistakes' of others caught by MACC before this," said the source.
"Before this, some Immigration officers were arrested after their lavish lifestyles and luxury cars drew attention."
The source said MACC was still investigating where the officers hid their ill-gotten gains.
Up until yesterday (Aug 21), only cash amounting to tens of thousands was recovered.
"There's a possibility that the suspects used proxies to hide the money they received from the syndicate."
It was previously reported that the syndicate is believed to have colluded with several Immigration officers who arranged 'special counters' for certain groups of foreigners arriving by flights over several years.
The 'special counters' allowed foreigners to enter the country without being inspected as per the Immigration Department's procedures.