GEORGE TOWN: Fresh from two successful baby-for-sale racket busts, the Penang police have started to close in on two other syndicates believed to be still active in the state.

State police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi disclosed this yesterday but declined to give more details on the Ops Pintas Sayang III so as not to jeopardise their next rescue mission.

“The two syndicates we are pursuing and the two we busted earlier are linked,” DCP Abdul Rahim said at the monthly gathering of the state police contingent here yesterday.

“We are in the midst of collecting intelligence,” he added.

In Ops Pintas Sayang I last month, the police arrested 36 people, aged between 23 and 52, and rescued 10 children.

In the ensuing Ops Pintas Sayang II on Feb 23, the police crippled another Penang-based syndicate and arrested 45 people. Twenty-three children, aged between one month and nine years, were rescued.

These successes earned praise from Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

DCP Abdul Rahim said the state police worked with their counterparts nationwide in the operations.

On the rescued babies, he said they were being well taken care of by the Welfare Department.

At the gathering, the police chief presented letters of appreciation to 137 recipients.

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