SEPANG, Dec 15 — A total of 42 illegal immigrants were found in hiding during a raid by the police at a townhouse, suspected to be used for drug smuggling, in Cyberjaya last December 11.
Sepang district police chief ACP Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof told a press conference here today that the illegal immigrants, including a child, all of them Indonesians, were believed to have been placed there as transit home by the ‘tekong darat‘ (ground coordinator).
He said the house was rented early this month from a local man who is working in Singapore.
“When the raid was carried out (December 11), the ‘tekong darat‘ managed to flee by jumping through the back door (of the house),” he said, adding that following a search, the police found 0.24g of syabu and RM7,000 in cash, inside the house.
However, the police managed to track down the ‘tekong darat‘ and arrested the 42-year-old local man in the Dengkil area yesterday who is now in remand for four days until December 17 for investigation.
“Based on an investigation, the 42 foreigners were to have left the country by boat on the night of December 11, either via Bagan Lalang or Tanjung Rhu Beach,” Wan Kamarul Azran said, adding the foreigners were also in remand for 14 days from December 11.
In a separate case, he said the police arrested four local men who were believed to be involved in stealing abandoned vehicles in condominium car parks in Cyberjaya.
He said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to steal old vehicles that had been parked in the condominium area for a long time and then towed them to a workshop to be dismantled.
The vehicle components and frames were then sold at junk shops, he added.
He said the arrest was made after a report was lodged last December 5 on a stolen Proton Satria.
Following intelligence work and raids, the police recovered components of six vehicles reported stolen in Cyberjaya, he said, adding that two of the arrests were made in Cyberjaya last December 5, followed by the third and fourth arrest in Klang and Sepang, respectively last December 13.
The suspects, aged between 26 and 38 are remanded for investigation under Section 379A of the Penal Code.
— Bernama
