‘Operators at every level have to be rounded up to cripple syndicates’
KUALA LUMPUR: Police are thoroughly investigating all aspects of the smuggling of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh through Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
Not ruling out corruption involving enforcement agency personnel at entry points, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Noor Rashid Ibrahim said operators at every stage had to be rounded up to close down such syndicates.
“(At) the first level are the syndicates in Bangladesh, which recruit their citizens to be transported here as illegal immigrants,” said Noor Rashid yesterday.
“Then at the entry points here, there are the agents who ease their entry, allowing them to pass through, be it through corruption or other means.
“At the final level are the syndicates that collect and distribute these illegal immigrants.
“Eventually, their modus operandi becomes to just leave illegal immigrants here until they are caught and deported.”
Speaking after closing the Inspector-General’s Cup equestrian endurance event at the Universiti Putra Malaysia Equine Centre in Serdang, Noor Rashid said police would continue to collaborate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to shut down smuggling rackets that operate via KLIA.
Four Immigration Department officers and three others have been arrested.
“We will also need cooperation from our Bangladeshi counterparts to shut down these syndicates on their end,” said Noor Rashid.
Speaking on the arrest of a second suspect in relation to Wednesday’s gruesome murder of an elderly couple and their two grandchildren, Noor Rashid said he had ordered Selangor police chief Datuk Mazlan Mansor to form a team to get to the bottom of the case.
As for the report on a Malaysian woman being arrested in Paris on Friday for allegedly pouring boiling water on her son, Noor Rashid said the matter was under the jurisdiction of French police and laws.