Malaysian Immigration Arrest 8 Prospective Passports Offering Foreigners Can Stay Long

Illustration of the twin towers of Petronas in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Unsplash-Sua Truong)

JAKARTA - The Malaysian Immigration Department has arrested eight people who are members of a passport-making broker syndicate that offers its services through social media (medsos). Those arrested were four Malaysians, two of whom were the masterminds of this illegal Immigration agent and two other Chinese members. Officers also arrested a Chinese resident suspected of being a client of the brokers, and one Filipino with the status of a household worker. "The initial investigation revealed that all foreigners do not have official travel documents to be in the country," said Malaysia's Director General of Immigration, Datuk Ruslin Jusoh at a press conference, Monday, August 19, quoted from The Sun Daily. From the arrest, the Malaysian Immigration Department confiscated 100 Chinese passports, two Taiwanese passports, three Thai passports, one Dominica passport, one Vanuatu passport, an Immigration Visit Permit application form, money worth RM57,260 and 29,660 bhat Thailand and five vehicles.

Ruslin said the broker syndicate offers its services to Chinese, Taiwanese and Thai citizens who want to stay longer in Malaysia. They offer their services through social media at a rate between RM1,200 and RM15,000, depending on the service. Ruslin said four local residents were suspected of Article 12(1) (f) of the 1966 Passport Law. Meanwhile, other Chinese citizens and Filipinos are being investigated under Article 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.