PETALING JAYA, March 13 — Stolen and fake passports are easily available in the region, particularly Thailand, after two Iranians boarded the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) MH370 plane posing as someone else.

Such activities have been rampant for years, even in Malaysia, raising questions if authorities were indeed serious in tackling such crime.

Fake identification can be easily obtained and have been used in blatantly  — from entering or leaving the country to purchasing land in Malaysia.

In July 2011, The Malay Mail exposed  a land scam after Datin Murnina Sujak, wife of prominent businessman Datuk Rafie Sain, fell victim to a syndicate as her land in Bukit Jelutong was sold without her knowledge.

A MyKad and driving licence — with matching details belonging to Murnina but different pictures — were used to open a bank account. Sources then claimed the case was “kept in view”’ due to lack of evidence.

In August the same year, The Malay Mail found there were syndicates which produced identification documents and could even send them to one’s doorstep.

A website even offered such services as our attempts then to secure a bogus MyKad showed it could be produced and sent over “just two to four days after receiving payment”.

A Malaysian passport then was readily available for €500 (RM2,277.42) while a package of a Malaysian passport and MyKad cost €650.

Passports and identity cards of other countries, including Belgium, Brazil and Spain, were also available. 

However, then Home Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Mahmood Adam insisted it was “impossible” for security features embedded in both the MyKad and the Malaysian passport to be copied.

On Tuesday, Immigration Department director-general Datuk Aloyah Mamat insisted her men had adhered to its standard operating procedure (SOP), including taking thumbprints of the two Iranian impostors who boarded MH370, under its biometric system when the duo had entered the country last month. 

Our porous borders allows illegals to enter the country easily. Myanmar nationals, believed to be victims of human trafficking, were smuggled into the country through Thailand. Police, had in an operation last month, raided a house in Bukit Mertajam and rescued four Rohingya men who were tied up with metal chains.

Kedah police have also conducted similar raids in recent months.

A senior Thai immigration police officer told AFP the country does not check passports against Interpol’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database which has more than 40 million entries. 

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, meanwhile, said the Malaysian authorities used prior intelligence against the huge database to red-flag problematic passengers.