PUTRAJAYA, May 20 (Bernama) -- The Immigration Department's enforcement division has busted the biggest passport forgery syndicate yet and also arrested its mastermind.
Its director Datuk Ishak Mohamad said following a tipoff from the public, officers from the division detained a 41-year Iranian national at 9pm on May 15 at a condominium in Jalan Kuching here and seized 19 international passports from him.
"The suspect, whom we believe is the mastermind, was caught with a Filipino woman who did not have a passport but was trying to enrol herself at a tertiary institution here," he told a press conference here Tuesday.According to Ishak, information gleaned from the duo showed there were about five to seven operatives in the syndicate made up of Iranians and others from middle eastern countries.
Among the passports seized included those of Iran, Turkey, Oman, Mexico, Japan, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Colombia and the United Kingdom.
"We also recovered unused visa stickers from Canada and a false Malaysian Immigration Department stamp from the mastermind," he said, adding that the passports were being sold between RM3,100 and RM9,300 each. He added that the mastermind was using a carpet sales business in Rawang, Selangor as a cover for his activities.
On other matters, Ishak said his department would also be monitoring the influx of African runners during marathon competitions in the country as they cannot participate in such events on a social visit pass.
-- BERNAMA
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