Authorities bust human trafficking syndicate

IPOH: The state Immigration Department has crippled a human trafficking syndicate smuggling Indian nationals into Europe for the past 10 years with the arrest of three masterminds comprising a local man, his wife and their son.

Its director Kamalludin Ismail said in the four-day operations which began on Monday, three police personnel – a sergeant and two constables aged between 22 and 57 – were detained together with 45 Indian migrants.

The husband-wife team would arrange for the Indian nationals to be taken across the MalaysiaThailand border before sending them to Europe, said Kamalludin during a press conference at the Home Ministry Complex on Thursday night.

He said the police personnel would arrange for the transportation and drive the Indians across the border.

Kamalludin said each Indian would have to pay up to RM5,000 to be smuggled into Thailand before heading to Europe.

He said the Immigration Department seized cash amounting to RM13,750, several handphones, two motorcycles and three cars.

He said the operations were carried out with the cooperation of the Royal Malaysia Police and the Malaysian Border Security Agency.