Immigration director-general Khairul Dzaimee Daud said the four, aged 35 to 45, were detained during Op Kenyalang at 9.45pm at the Tebedu immigration, customs, quarantine and security (ICQS) complex.

Following a three-month surveillance and intelligence, it was found that the officers had removed the security stamps from the foreigners’ passports to ensure their safe travel, he said in a statement today.

During the same operation, 63 Indonesians, aged 22 to 52, including 26 women, were detained in a raid at a residential area and on a bus in Bintulu.

Thirty of them, including a man, 38, believed to be the mastermind, were arrested at a transit house. Authorities seized RM25,000 and three million rupiah from them.

“Those detained had previously been blacklisted from entering Malaysia and all had flight tickets to Kuala Lumpur,” Khairul said.

Further checks on two buses in Bintulu led to the arrest of 33 more Indonesian nationals.

He said initial investigations revealed that the syndicate had made a profit of more than RM80,000 a month by charging RM5,000 to RM6,000 for each migrant who wanted to enter the country.

“The syndicate, which had been active for almost eight months, arranged the entry of the blacklisted foreigners with the help of immigration officers, with 30 to 40 people involved each time.

“The immigrants were taken to the syndicate’s designated transit house before being sent to the airports for their flights to the Peninsula,” he said.