KUALA LUMPUR - The 'Bahnu Internationals' syndicate an operation smuggling Sri Lankan children to Europe using Malaysian International Passports (MIP) has been taken down.
Malaysian Immigration Department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said a local couple who were the mastermind of the syndicate had been arrested on April 12.
He said the syndicate's modus operandi was detected by the Kuala Lumpur immigration Department in which they used Malaysian parents from poor families with children under 12-years-old to manipulate their information.
"The syndicate will convince parents to bring the birth certificates of children under 12 to the immigration office as if they were making a Malaysia passport for their children.
"However, during the application process in the immigration counter Sri Lankan children close to the age of their children would be brought to the counter for the purposes of getting their fingerprints and picture," he said in a statement on Wednesday.
He said the husband and wife involved would act as a 'transporter' by bringing the Sri Lankan children with Malaysian passports to Europe.
He said based on the statements from the parents who were manipulated they were paid RM500 to attend with their child's documents to be used for the Sri Lankan children involved.
"Early investigations found the syndicate receives €30,000 to €50,000 for each Sri Lankan children that had their Malaysian passpports done and was escorted to Europe," he said.
The couple's acts were exposed while they were present at the Kuala Lumpur Immigration headquarters to get a Malaysian passport for a Sri Lankan child.
He explained the immigration officer had noticed there was something off in the child's passport application and interviewed the child after the officer npticed there was a significant difference in appearance with the guardian and that the child failed to speak Malay.
"The couple each aged 37 and 26 were accused under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (ATIPSOM) 2007 in the Sessions Court here," he said.
The Immigration Department has advised the public not to be easily manipulated by offers and lies by such syndicates.
"If any doubts are found relating to Immigration matters the public can refer to the department or gain the latest information through the website and immigration's official social media accounts," he said.