KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Immigration Department (MID) will leave the detention of five Sabah immigration officers to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to conduct investigation and will extend its cooperation for a transparent and fair investigation.
Immigration Director General, Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said, the department will not compromise on any of its officers who commit integrity violation to the extent of tarnishing the good name and image of the department.
“The department will not protect those involved in activities violating integrity. Serious action will be taken including dismissal if those involved have been proven guilty,” Ruslin said in a statement, Saturday.
Ruslin added, the department will always cooperate with other agencies including MACC in the effort to fight against migrant smuggling.
Ruslin was responding to the detention of five Sabah immigration officers by MACC on March 23, 2023 for alleged involvement in a syndicate smuggling illegal immigrants.
Meanwhile the MACC in a statement said, the five immigration enforcement officers were arrested on suspicion of smuggling migrants into the country in an operation in Sabah last Thursday.
“The enforcement personnel aged between 30 and 41, two of them women were arrested between 2.30pm and 8.40pm in a joint operation “Op Lancar” by the commission and the National Registration Department (NRD)”, the statement said.
The statement added, the syndicate will charge RM2,500 on an illegal immigrant or those without valid documents for their passage to leave Sabah via Tawau Airport to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) using other person’s identities.
According to the statement, based on MACC’s investigation the syndicate was believed to have been in operation since 2018. It provides boarding passes to bring in between five and 20 illegal immigrants on each flight to KLIA. – Malaysia World News
