SUNGAI GOLOK: Human trafficking syndicates have used the border town here as a transit point in bringing Rohingya and other immigrants to Malaysia.
A Thai security spokesman said the migrants were believed to have been brought to the kingdom via both land and sea routes before being smuggled to the peninsula.
"The migrants will be smuggled into Thailand by the human trafficking syndicate and they will use the Sungai Golok sub-province as their transit point.
"From here, the migrants will be sent to Malaysia via the Kelantan border.
"The syndicate will use the many illegal jetties located along the Kelantan/Thai areas to ferry the foreigners.
"The majority of them will use the illegal jetties in Rantau Panjang and Tumpat," said the spokesman.
He said the syndicate whose members include those from Kelantan would smuggle the migrants mostly in the evening and after midnight to evade detection.
"The Thai army manning the border with Kelantan has been told to conduct round-the-clock operations and to look out for the illegal migrants.
"The Thai authorities also have been working with their counterparts in Malaysia particularly the Kelantan border agencies to curb the trafficking of migrants," said the spokesman.
It was reported today that the Immigration Department had successfully foiled an attempt by a syndicate to smuggle in Rohingya into the country with the arrest of six individuals.
In the 7.57am raid, all the individuals, who were Rohingya aged between 24 and 35, were detained by the department's Intelligence and Special Operations Division Special Tactical Team (Pastak) at the Kota Baru Express Bus Terminal in Kelantan.
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said the raid was conducted following public complaints and a three-week intelligence operation.
"The syndicate's modus operandi was to smuggle Rohingya migrants into the country through illegal border routes and place them in transit houses before transporting them to Kuala Lumpur using express buses, accompanied by a Rohingya man who would come from Kuala Lumpur.
"Those who had just entered would be given fake UNHCR documents to deceive the authorities.
"The syndicate charges RM500 per person for transportation to Kuala Lumpur and RM100 for transportation within Kota Baru," he added.
He said that the syndicate had been operating for about a year and the case was being investigated under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Atipsom) Act 2007, and Section 6(3) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.