PUTRAJAYA: The Immigration Department believes it has dismantled a syndicate responsible for the influx of illegal immigrants in the country with the arrest of eight people, including five foreigners, yesterday.
Acting on intelligence gatherings over the past two weeks, a team from the department's intelligence and special operations division arrested the suspects when they raided several premises in Kuala Lumpur, Kelana Jaya, Sungai Besi, Puchong, and Putrajaya in a special operation that started at 3.22pm.
Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said the team also seized 209 passports from various countries, including 131 Indian passports, 22 Sri Lankan passports, 18 Bangladeshi passports, 10 Indonesian passports, 10 Vietnamese passports, eight Nepali passports, six Pakistani passports and four Myanmar passports.
Among those arrested during the special operation, he said, included three people believed to be the mastermind of the syndicate.
"Of the total people arrested, three of them are from Vietnam comprising two women and a man.
"Others arrested were three local women, a man from India and a woman from Sri Lanka," Ruslin said.
He added that preliminary checks showed the two Vietnamese women and one Sri Lankan woman arrested during the operation had overstayed in the country.
Ruslin also said initial investigations showed the syndicate was involved in offering services to manage Social Visit Passes (PLS), Temporary Working Visit Passes (PLKS), Specialist Visit Passes (PLIK), and visas for a fee of between RM500 and RM1,100.
He also said the syndicate's modus operandi was to target foreigners in the Klang Valley, offering services to deal with the Immigration Department concerning passports and these passes.
"The fees charged ranged from RM500 to RM1,100 for each service offered," he said.
All foreigners arrested during the operation, he said, are now being at Bukit Jalil Immigration Depot for further investigation under the Immigration Act 1959/63.
The three local women, he said, were arrested under the Passport Act 1966.