KUALA LUMPUR: Police have crippled a Yemeni syndicate, arresting eight adults, and rescued seven children who were believed to have been exploited and forced to beg on the streets of Malaysia.
Officers from Bukit Aman's Criminal Investigation Department Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Division (D3), under the operation Op Pintas Khas, carried out the raids on Tuesday, arresting eight Yemeni adults in coordinated operations in Bukit Bintang and Klang.
The syndicate had reportedly been earning between RM2,500 and RM3,000 daily from its illicit begging activities. Initial investigations indicated the syndicate would organise the victims to solicit money between 6pm and 3am daily.
Senior Assistant Commissioner Soffian Santong, principal assistant director of Bukit Aman's D3, confirmed that the raids took place around 10pm on Jan 14, as authorities acted swiftly to smash the operation and rescue the vulnerable victims from further exploitation.
"The main focus of the operation was to identify and rescue victims of human trafficking, in line with the National Guidelines on Human Trafficking Indicators (NGHTI), as well as to arrest the syndicate members involved.
"We managed to rescue six Yemeni boys and one Yemeni girl, including a baby. They were aged between one month and 16 years old," he said in a statement today.
He said that during the raids, six Yemeni men and two Yemeni women, aged between 21 and 30, were arrested.
"The children rescued are believed to be victims of human trafficking and forced labour," he said.