JOHOR BARU, Dec 5 — The Johor Immigration Department have busted a fake passport operation following the arrest of a 47-year-old woman who is believed to be the syndicate’s mastermind.
Johor Immigration director Baharuddin Tahir said the suspect, a Malaysian, was detained at a parking lot in Taman Nusa Bestari at about 6pm yesterday after two weeks of surveillance by the department’s intelligence unit.
“She was in a white car with a 34-year-old Chinese national during the raid.
“The woman was believed to be the main person involved in producing the forged China passports,” he said in a statement today.
During the operation, Baharuddin said that the raiding team also found five Chinese passports in the Toyota Mark X car, along with RM12,100 in cash.
He said the syndicate is believed to have been active for the past two months and charged RM400 to RM500 for each passport.
“It is a serious offence to profit by falsifying such documents and stern action will be taken,” he said, adding that the Immigration Department will also come down hard on those who assist in the smuggling of migrants.
Both suspects have been detained under Section 6(1)(c) and Section 12(1)(f) of the Passports Act 1966 or Act 150 for being in possession of passports belonging to others, without a valid reason.
