Malaysia rescues 14 Bangladeshi trafficking victims, arrests three suspected agents

The Malaysian Immigration Department has rescued 14 Bangladeshis while busting a human trafficking syndicate, according to local media reports.

Its director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said three suspected Bangladeshi agents were also arrested in a raid on a residential premises in Ampang near Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, Malay Mail Online reported quoting state news agency Bernama.

The suspected agents were allegedly responsible for managing the victims' arrivals and controlling the premises, the report said.

The department raided the premises following public information and intelligence, Mustafar said, according to the report.

The Immigration Department officials found 20 mobile phones belonging to the victims and cash of 28,500 Malaysian ringgits on the premises, which was locked from outside for the purpose of duping the authorities, the report said.

“After successfully entering the premises, the team carried out an inspection and found that all the victims were placed in two rooms in a congested condition,” the report quoted Mustafar Ali as saying in a statement. 

Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali, director general, Department of Immigration, Malaysia.

According to Mustafar, the syndicate’s mode of operation was to keep all the victims in the premises and then sell them to employers who are willing to take the victims to work by paying the price set by the syndicate.

He also said the department believed the syndicate had long been involved in the activity based on the modus operandi used and was believed to have links to a migrant smuggling syndicate which was crippled in December last year, according to the report.