IPOH, Feb 14 — Police foiled a migrant smuggling operation, arresting 36 individuals, including two masterminds, in raids at two separate locations around Selekoh, Bagan Datuk.
Perak police chief Datuk Noor Hisam Nordin said the arrests followed coordinated raids by officers from the Criminal Investigation Division and Special Branch of the Bagan Datuk district police headquarters at a palm oil plantation and Kampung Sungai Payung on Friday and today.
The first raid last night led to the detention of 25 men and four women, aged 18 to 55, including 21 Indonesian men, four Bangladeshi men, and four Indonesian women, allegedly preparing to be smuggled back to Indonesia by sea.
A 44-year-old Indonesian land agent was also arrested at the same site, while another Indonesian man, believed to be a land transporter, was detained at a hotel in Hutan Melintang.
“We also seized a Honda City used in the operation. Both suspects are believed to have managed food and transport for the migrants,” he said in a statement today.
Noor Hisam said the second raid today at 8.56 am led to the arrest of five Indonesians, comprising two men and three women aged 20 to 36, by the roadside in Kampung Sungai Payung.
“The land agent and transporter have been remanded under Section 4(5) of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 for 28 days until March 13.
“All the migrants were remanded for 14 days under Section 51(5)(b) of the Immigration Act 1959 (Amendment 2002),” he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 26a of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 and Section 6(1)© of the Immigration Act 1959/63. — Bernama
