The illegal immigrants caught at the back of a pick-up by Immigration officers recently.
KOTA KINABALU (Jan 29): The Sabah Immigration Department said a syndicate is bringing foreigners, particularly from the Philippines, to Sabah for between RM1,500 and RM2,500 per person.
Its director, Datuk Sh Sitti Saleha Habib Yusoff, said four Malaysians including two women, aged between 25 and 56 years old, were arrested for suspected involvement in the smuggling of migrants.
Confiscated was an Isuzu D-Max pick-up which was suspected to have been used for the smuggling of migrants, she said at a press conference on Monday.
Sitti Saleha said the double cab vehicle was found carrying nine people, including a child, from Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu on January 26. A 26-year-old Malaysian man was driving the vehicle.
She said that the modus operandi of the syndicate was to use Pulau Bakungan Besar in the Philippines as transit before bringing the foreigners into Sabah.
At the same time, she said that intelligence information also identified a house in Penampang which was used as a transit for the illegal immigrants before they were sent to other locations.
She said the transit house was raided and seven foreigners were detained.
On January 27, the department also arrested 11 illegal immigrants aged between eight months old and 47 years old from the Philippines in Penampang district.
Datuk SH Sitti Saleha Habib Yusoff
The director also said that among the offences were the absence of identification documents, permitting illegal immigrants to enter and stay at a premises and smuggling illegal immigrants.
“There will be continued enforcement operations to detect, arrest, prosecute and drive out foreigners who flout the the laws.
“The department reminds the public and employers to stop protecting the illegal immigrants or they will have to face legal implications,” she said.
Sitti Saleha also urged members of the public with information on the presence of illegal immigrants to provide information to the department.
Meanwhile, last year, the Sabah Immigration Department conducted a total of 1,463 operations and examined 30,918 people, she said.
A total of 4,108 people were arrested and 22 employers were charged.
“The department also successfully repatriated detainees at its depots throughout the state for a total of 83 times in 2023 comprising 41 under sea category and 42 under air category.
“The total number of detainees who has been repatriated back to their country of origin is 8,678 people,” she said.
She added that the repatriation programme is conducted at least twice a month.
“As of 25 January, 2024, a total of 1,529 detainees from the depots have been repatriated,” she said.