KOTA KINABALU, March 31 — The Sabah Immigration Department has busted a syndicate specialising in forging identification documents with the arrest of six individuals during raids within a two-day period under Ops Serkap, which ended yesterday.
Sabah Immigration Department director Datuk Sh Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said in a media conference today that three men and three women, aged 24 to 59, were arrested, but their nationalities were still being determined, along with their roles in the syndicate.
The arrests were made following a raid by six Sabah Immigration Intelligence Unit members on an unnumbered house at Kampung Sembulan Lama.
“During the raid, we found three men and two women who were in possession of a suspected fake entry permit, and confiscated 28 entry permit documents, along with forgeries of documents relating to the payment of entry permits along with IMM13 applications,” she said, adding that interrogation led to another raid at the Riverside Sembulan area at about 1 pm yesterday and the arrest of another woman.
In addition to the arrest, the team found other suspected fake documents and seized RM744 in cash. The woman suspect then provided information about a house around Kuala Menggatal, which was raided and more fake immigration documents were seized.
She said the department believed the syndicate has been in operation since April 2022 and had made a profit of between RM60,000 and RM100,000.
“We are now tracking another individual related to the case, who is believed to be in a state in West Malaysia. We are also investigating to find out if this case is related to previous cases in Sabah,” she said, adding that the case was being investigated under Section 55D and Section 56 (1) (l) of the Immigration Act 1959/63. — Bernama
