PUTRAJAYA: The Immigration Department has crippled a travel document forgery syndicate with the arrest of two Pakistani men and an Indian woman.
The syndicate, which is believed to have been operating since early this year, offered fake Temporary Working Visit Passes (PLKS), special passes and passport "stamping" services as well as fake Pakistan driver's licences online.
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said a team from the Intelligence and Special Operations Division monitored the syndicate for over a month before they launched a series of raids on Sept 5 and Sept 6 at USJ1, Subang Jaya as well as Jalan Raja and Jalan Desa Bakti, Kuala Lumpur.
"The operations began at d 12.20pm on Sept 5, when we arrested a Pakistani man and Indian woman in a car at USJ1. We checked the vehicle and found 10 PLKS stickers which were believed to be forged," he told reporters at the Immigration Department headquarters here today (Sept 9).
Ruslin said they questioned the two suspects who led the officers to a location at Jalan Raja, Kuala Lumpur at 12pm on Sept 6 where another Pakistani man, who was driving a car, was detained.
"Based on our checks, this suspect, known as Azhar is the mastermind of the syndicate. We also found 30 PLKS stickers in the vehicle," he said.
Immigration officers then raided a residence at Jalan Desa Bakti and seized seven Egyptian passports, three Pakistan passports, two Syrian passports and one passport each from Malaysia, the Philippines, Algeria and Yemen respectively.
He said they also seized a printer, several entry and exit stamps believed to be forged, holographic stickers, a fake MyKad as well as a fake Malaysian driver's licence.
"The three suspects, aged between 44 and 50, have been remanded for 14 days from Sept 6. We believe the suspects had been offering the services through social media platforms for between nine and 10 months," he said.
Ruslin said the syndicate members offered forged PLKS stickers for between RM150 and RM300, entry and exit stamping services for between RM100 and RM300, fake Pakistani driving licences for between RM100 and RM200 as well as special passes for between RM800 and RM1,000.
"Checks revealed that the two Pakistani men had entered the country legally and held Temporary Working Visit Passes to work in the textile sector while the Indian woman had overstayed.
"We do not rule out the possibility that the suspects are part of a bigger network," he said, adding that they were conducting background checks on the suspects.