PUTRAJAYA – The Immigration Department has dismantled a syndicate involved in the exploitation of foreign domestic workers and rescued eight Indonesian women believed to be victims in raids at 11 locations around the Klang Valley on April 15.
Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the syndicate, believed to have been operating for the past one year, was foiled following a month of intelligence gathering.
"The syndicate’s modus operandi was to lure Indonesian nationals without valid work passes with promises of employment, while deceiving employers by offering to arrange documentation for the workers supplied,” he said.
Employers were charged between RM4,500 and RM6,000 for each domestic worker, he added.
Zakaria said two local women, believed to be illegal agents and identified as a mother and daughter known as ‘Ibu Maznah’, were arrested in the operation.
In a second raid, he said officers detained two Yemeni men and two Indonesian women believed to be illegal agents known as ‘Ibu Nancy’, while a local man suspected of acting as a transporter was also arrested.
He said the agents were believed to have supplied and exploited Indonesian women as foreign domestic workers.
Checks at other locations also led to the detention of 18 Indonesians, comprising 10 men and eight women, for not possessing valid travel documents.
Among items seized were 21 Indonesian passports, seven mobile phones, agreements between agents and employers, and a Perodua Bezza believed to have been used in the operation.
The suspected agents were detained under Section 12 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, while a local woman was also arrested under Section 12(1)(f) of the Passports Act 1966.
The 18 foreigners were detained under Section 6(3) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, while all rescued victims were placed in a shelter home.
Two local men and three local women were also issued notices to assist investigations, he added. – BERNAMA