KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 — Ten individuals, including a senior Immigration Department officer, were arrested in an operation dubbed Op Toyu at the Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Complex in Kedah yesterday.
Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the special operation, which began at 12.50 pm, was carried out following a month-long intelligence effort by the Intelligence and Special Operations Division at Immigration headquarters in Putrajaya, in collaboration with the Kedah Immigration Department and the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS).
“Those arrested include a local man and a Thai national believed to be ‘agents’ known as ‘Toyu’, who arranged the entry of foreign nationals, as well as a local man acting as a ‘transporter’.
“Also detained were five Indian nationals, one Pakistani national and a senior immigration officer believed to have acted as a ‘facilitator’,” he said in a statement today.
He said initial checks found that one of the Indian nationals detained had been blacklisted, while the Pakistani national was using a suspected fake e-visa, and the others were illegal immigrants.
According to Zakaria, in the operation, authorities seized five Indian passports, one Pakistani passport, Malaysia-Thailand border passes, immigration security stamps, 12 mobile phones and INR30,000 in cash. A Nissan Sentra car, as well as two motorcycles – a Honda Wave and a Honda EX5 – were also confiscated.
“The syndicate’s modus operandi involved bringing in foreign nationals, particularly from India, through land entry points in a coordinated manner with the help of ‘transporters’ posing as taxi drivers, before the involved officers endorsed their entry despite not meeting the requirements.
“The syndicate charged RM1,000 per individual, with RM400 channelled to the officer for each passport, and is believed to have been operating since early this year, resulting in estimated revenue leakages of RM4.1 million,” he said.
He said two local men and a Thai national were arrested for allegedly committing offences under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, while another local man was detained under Section 26J of the same law.
“Five Indian nationals were also detained under Section 8(3) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, while a Pakistani national was detained under Section 56(1)(l) of the same law.
“All those detained have been taken to the Kedah Immigration office for further action, while two local men and two local women have been issued notices to appear at the office to assist in the investigation,” he said.
He stressed that the Immigration Department will not compromise with any parties involved in migrant smuggling activities, including its own officers, to ensure the country’s sovereignty and security are safeguarded. — Bernama
