59 Bangladeshis rescued in KL
Trafficking syndicate busted
The Malaysian Immigration Department rescued 59 Bangladeshi victims of a human trafficking syndicate in a raid at two condominium premises in Desa Petaling of Kuala Lumpur on Monday. A team raided the premises where the victims were kept in crowded conditions.
Director-General of Immigration Department Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said a Bangladeshi man detained in the raid was suspected to be the captain and believed to have a role in managing the arrival of foreign workers and supplying them to employers, according to The Star.
Two men and a woman of Bangladeshi origin, who served as assistants and controlled the transit home from where the victims were sent to agents or employers, were also arrested. The victims stayed in the transit home in crowded conditions. Their mobile phones, passports and money were confiscated by the syndicate and they were not allowed out of the house or make phone calls, Mustafar said in a statement. Mustafar said the victims were also threatened if they did not follow instructions or tried to leave the transit home.
He said the syndicate was believed to be involved in the printing of fake immigration security stickers after a computer, printer and Bangladesh passports were found in a room at the premises.
The victims were promised jobs in Malaysia and were charged between RM18,000 and RM20,000 each to enter Malaysia through Indonesia. They were flown from Bangladesh to Jakarta and taken to a location near the beach before boarding a boat and smuggled into Malaysia.
