KAJANG: The Immigration Department dismantled an Indonesian migrant smuggling syndicate that had been active for six months by raiding a suspected safe house here on Monday.
In a statement posted on Facebook today, the department said the raid was the culmination of a fortnight of intelligence gathering and planning.
The department said it arrested 29 people, and seized 14 passports, RM13,340 cash and a car believed to have been used to transport illegal migrants around the country.
The operation started at 6pm, when officers from the elite Intelligence and Special Operations Division followed a vehicle to a residence here that was believed to be a safe house.
Officers sprung into action when the vehicle reached the residence, and arrested a 42-year-old Indonesian man identified only as Jon, who is suspected to be a syndicate operative acting as a transporter.
The premises was then raided, and another two Indonesian men, aged 20 and 41, were arrested. The two men are believed to be caretakers of the safe house.
A search of the safe house yielded 26 Indonesians — 21 men and five women — aged between 21 and 50.
Checks found that 13 of the Indonesians had overstayed in Malaysia, while the others had entered Malaysia illegally without documents.
The syndicate is believed to have charged them between RM1,500 and RM2,500 to ferry Indonesians back and forth across the border.
Indonesians would be brought into the country through illegal landing sites and then placed at a safe house before being transported to their final destination elsewhere in the country.
One Indonesian has been detained under Section 26J of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (ATIPSOM) for allegedly transporting illegal migrants.
Two others have been detained under Section 26H for allegedly facilitating the trafficking of illegal migrants.
The illegal Indonesian migrants have been transferred to the Bukit Jalil Immigration Depot for investigation.
They face charges under Sections 6(3) and 15(4) of the Immigration Act for allegedly remaining in Malaysia without valid travel documents and entering the country illegaly.