He said this after two immigration officers, linked to an international passport forgery syndicate, were arrested recently.
During a visit to the international departure counters at the KL International Airport (KLIA) Nur Jazlan said that one of the hang-ups included immigration officers needing to manually record the arrivals and departures of international passengers when the system was down.
“Checks by us found that the records were not being updated into the system on the same day itself.
“This enabled the bad apples to work with syndicates. They would take advantage of the flaws by trafficking people when the system was down,” Star Online reported him as saying.
Nur Jazlan added that the system had broken down several times in the past month alone with the longest breakdown lasting an hour.
“It’s embarrassing. Security is a serious matter. Just imagine if one, two or three terrorists enter the country this way.
“This is why the flaws need to be immediately rectified. Security must be upgraded from time to time and the company which developed the system should take the responsibility in doing so; 20 years is a long time.”
Nur Jazlan said the Immigration Department was also researching a new system called the Advanced Passenger Screening System (APSS).
“It is one of several new security protocols being put in place at the entry points of the country.
“We are also focusing on strengthening our officers’ integrity so that they will refrain from being involved in any wrongdoings.”
According to Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar, six Malaysians, including two Immigration officers, were among the 19 people arrested between April 12 and May 6 over their alleged involvement in the human trafficking of Sri Lankan nationals, using fake Malaysian international passports.