The Immigration Department has busted a syndicate believed to be involved in online scams, including love scams and the sale of counterfeit goods, with 21 people arrested in an operation at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 and Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, on Wednesday.
Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said in a statement today that the syndicate, believed to have been operating since early this year, used a luxury residence in a secluded area of a housing estate in Nilai as its operations centre and is believed to have made up to US$50,000.
He said the operation, carried out at 5.55 pm, followed public information and a month-long intelligence-gathering effort by the Intelligence and Special Operations Division, together with the Security and Passport Division at the Immigration Department headquarters in Putrajaya.
Zakaria said the operation initially resulted in the arrest of a local man believed to be a syndicate member and two Chinese nationals, a man and a woman aged 50 to 53, at KLIA.
“Preliminary investigations found that the syndicate facilitated the entry of foreign nationals into Malaysia, targeting Chinese nationals believed to have been blacklisted by the Immigration Department,” he said.
“The blacklisted suspects are believed to have possessed two Chinese passports with different passport numbers. The Chinese passport that the Immigration Department did not blacklist was used to pass through the e-Gate at KLIA,” he said, adding that inspections of the two suspects’ belongings uncovered blacklisted Chinese passports.
He said the local man was believed to have acted as a driver for the Chinese nationals, transporting them to designated locations.
“After questioning those detained, the operation team searched a residential premises in Taman Desa Melati, Nilai, and arrested the alleged masterminds, two Chinese men, a Chinese woman and a Russian woman,” he said.
The operation also led to the arrest of 13 alleged syndicate members, comprising nine Chinese men and one Chinese woman, as well as one man each from Vanuatu and Pakistan and one woman each from India and Myanmar.
Zakaria said the detained foreign nationals, aged 23 to 33, had initially been found to have entered Malaysia on social visit passes.
He said the syndicate allegedly used Telegram and WhatsApp to target overseas victims through love scams and counterfeit goods sales.
The Immigration Department also seized 32 Chinese passports, one passport each from Myanmar, India, Vanuatu, and Russia, 11 desktop computers, a laptop, 44 mobile phones, a Proton X70, and RM4,800 in cash.
Zakaria said the local man and four alleged masterminds were detained for suspected offences under Section 56(1)(d) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, while the other foreign nationals were detained for suspected offences under Section 15(1)(c) of the same Act and Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1963.
