HUMAN TRAFFICKING SYNDICATE BUSTED

Mohammad (centre) flanked by Jaimin (right) and Mohd Isa during the press conference.

9th June, 2011

SANDAKAN: Two Malaysians are among four persons arrested by the State Immigration under the Anti Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrant Act 2007 (Amendment 2010) during “Ops Sekap” here on June 5.

The duo together with a Filipino man and woman aged 39 to 40 years, were detained by an Immigration team led by head of the Sandakan Immigration Intelligence and Operations Unit Mohd Isa Halsey between 9.45pm to 4am, State Immigration director Haji Mohammad Mentek told a press conference here yesterday.

The Immigration team found 21 women, aged 18 to 31, whom the group had brought in from the Philippines and kept at a hotel in town and a house in Mile 7. Only one of them had a travel document, Mohammad added.

He said the culprits were using Sandakan as a transit point and the Filipinas were promised jobs ranging from singer and waitress in Sarawak, Labuan and other places.

“We are also investigating the possibility of “flying passports” in this case because we have received information of the existence of this activity here,” he added.

Mohammad said the four suspects were believed to have been operating for ‘quite some time’. They were being held for investigations under Section 26H of the Anti Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrant Act 2007 (Amendment 2010).

This is the first major success under the Anti Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrant Act 2007 (Amendment 2010) for the State Immigration this year and the department will continue with these operations,” he added.

He said public information was important as it would enable the Immigration Department to catch those responsible and rescue their victims.

In commending his Sandakan officers for the success, he said “Our officers will do its level best to curb such crime.”

He also said the department has fully implemented a biometric system at all border entry points in the state in an effort to check cross-border crime.

Mohammad said the installation of the system was completed in April and a dry run was conducted in May.

“The system is commissioned starting this month and the use of fingerprint scanning system is running smoothly,” he added.

The adoption of the biometric system could help prevent cross-border crime as it would provide information on foreign nationals, who overstay and use false passports, at their entry and exit points.

Present were Sandakan Immigration chief Jaimin @ Richard Sumpit and Mohd Isa.