GOF busts migrant smuggling operation in Kelantan, arrests 10 foreigners

KOTA BHARU, July 7 — The Eighth Battalion of the General Operations Force (GOF) has crippled a migrant smuggling operation with the arrest of 10 foreign nationals, including a Thai national believed to have acted as the transporter, at Jalan Kampung Kubang Bemban, Pengkalan Kubor, Tumpat.

In a statement yesterday, GOF Southeast Brigade commander SAC Ahmad Radzi Hussain said the arrests were made on June 22 after personnel on patrol spotted a Honda Accord under suspicious circumstances before its driver attempted to flee by reversing the vehicle, causing it to veer off the road into a bush.

Upon apprehending the suspect, he said the patrol team found nine foreign nationals, comprising seven Chinese nationals and two Myanmar nationals aged between 22 and 31, who failed to produce valid travel documents inside the car.

“The 25-year-old driver was tested positive for methamphetamine and from initial investigations, he admitted to being paid RM150 for each migrant by a man in Tak Bai, Thailand, since last January to bring the migrants into Malaysia via illegal routes around Sungai Golok,” he said.

He said the migrants were also suspected of being involved in online scam activities based on the seizure of 22 mobile phones and a laptop in their possession.

Ahmad Radzi said the total value of the seized items, including the car, was estimated at RM77,100 and the case is being investigated under Section 26J of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Section 15(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

In a separate development, he said a 63-year-old local man had been arrested at an illegal jetty at Pengkalan Haram Mat Yeh, Pasir Mas on June 30 after he was suspected of attempting to smuggle 1,530 kilogrammes of packet cooking oil into Thailand. — Bernama