WANG KELIAN, May 29 — Deputy Inspector General of Police Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim said they have identified several kingpins and syndicates operating in Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

“We have narrowed down and identified several suspects and are working with our counterparts in the respective countries to apprehend them.  It will not happen overnight, but will take some time,” he told the Malay Mail in an exclusive yesterday.

He said this when met at the General Operations Force tactical base in Ulu Kinta.  The base is the operations center for “Ops Wawasan Khas” — the exhumation of bodies of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants, believed to be victims of human traffickers.

Police discovered graves and an abandoned camp on top of Bukit Wang Burma near Wang Kelian last Friday.

Noor Rashid said police have been working with their counterparts in Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh since the discovery of the mass graves in Thailand on May 1.

“We are confident of arresting members of the syndicates, which will help to curb human trafficking.”

He also said they were studying the possibility of constructing a helipad on top of the hill to expedite evacuation of the remains exhumed to the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Setar.  

More than 300 GOF personnel,  including forensic and police intelligence teams, were taking part in the operation to exhume a total of 139 graves found at the abandoned camp, believed to have been used as a transit point by human traffickers to smuggle migrants into Malaysia.