Prostitution Syndicate Masterminded by Foreign Couple Busted

KUALA LUMPUR: The Immigration Department (JIM) busted a prostitution syndicate masterminded by a foreign couple in raids at Jalan Kuchai Lama and Jalan Gelugor here last Tuesday.

Immigration Director-General Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the operation at 10.50 pm was carried out based on public information and two weeks of intelligence against the syndicate’s activities, which are believed to have been operating for the past two months.

He said, in addition to the Bangladeshi and Thai couple, his department detained a local man who acted as the premises caretaker as well as 23 foreign nationals.

“The foreign nationals consisted of three Myanmar men and three Bangladeshi women, 14 Indonesian women, two Vietnamese women and one Myanmar woman, aged between 18 and 35,” he said in a statement here today.

Zakaria said preliminary checks found that all the foreign nationals did not possess travel documents or valid passes to be in this country.

In the operation, JIM seized four Bangladeshi passports and one Thai passport as well as one Indonesian passport, besides mobile phones, condoms and cash amounting to RM1,215 believed to be proceeds from the activities.

“The syndicate’s modus operandi is to use residential premises and business premises as locations to carry out immoral activities involving foreign women as sex workers,” he said.

Zakaria said the activities were promoted to customers, especially Bangladeshi nationals in the Klang Valley, through social media platforms with charges ranging from RM200 to RM400 depending on the duration.

The foreign couple is believed to have controlled the workers’ movements by keeping their passports, while the local man acted as a “captain” who controlled and guarded the premises.

Zakaria said the three suspects were arrested and investigated under Section 56(1)(d) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, while investigations against the other foreign nationals were conducted under Section 6(1)(c) of the same act.

“A total of seven local men were also issued notices to assist investigations,” he said.

BERNAMA