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PUTRAJAYA: The Immigration Department of Malaysia has busted a syndicate known as 'Geng Broga', believed to be involved in illegally trafficking Indonesians, during an operation in Sungai Besar and Sabak Bernam, Selangor, on Thursday (June 6).
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said in a statement on Friday (June 7) that a team of enforcement officers from the Immigration headquarters in Putrajaya found 12 Indonesians during the operation that started at 8.05pm.
Based on information from the public and surveillance carried out by the department, a team was set up to carry out the operation. The team encountered three suspicious-looking vehicles driven by three suspects.
"All three drivers of the vehicles tried to speed off from the location, but the team managed to block their attempt and detain the three suspects.
"Initial investigations revealed that one of the drivers was the leader aged 47, while the other two were 'transporters' aged 31 and 40," he said, adding that two men, a woman, and a child, all Indonesians, were also detained.
Following information obtained from initial investigations and interrogation, officers were placed at an identified mangrove area in Sabak Bernam, and the team managed to detain eight Indonesians who had just arrived from Indonesia by sea.
He said the total number of people detained was 15, aged between 5 and 52.
Ruslin said five Indonesian passports, RM6,200 in cash, and the three vehicles were seized.
He explained that the modus operandi of the syndicate was to use the sea route to smuggle Indonesians from Tanjung Balai in Indonesia to Sungai Besar, Selangor, using fishing vessels. They were then transferred to smaller boats before being brought to shore.
"The leader of the syndicate makes all the arrangements, and the charges range from RM1,500 to RM2,500 depending on gender. The syndicate is believed to have been operating for a year now," he said. – Bernama
