Sinar Harian reported immigration director-general Ruslin Jusoh as saying the syndicate was shut down in a raid on a residence at Jalan Sultan Ismail in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

He said the 7pm raid by the Putrajaya immigration headquarters’ intelligence and special operations division saw the arrest of a Bangladeshi man in a car, who had attempted to escape by speeding out of a parking area.

Ruslin said the 33-year-old man was believed to have been a transporter. Two Bangladeshi undocumented migrants were found with him and were also arrested.

“Questioning led to the inspection of a residence, during which five other Bangladeshi nationals without valid travel documents or passes were arrested,” he said.

Ruslin said the raiding team seized 10 Bangladeshi passports, three mobile phones, RM500 in cash and a Perodua Myvi believed to be used to transport migrants.

He said the syndicate’s modus operandi was to transport undocumented migrants seeking employment here to Vietnam via air and then to Thailand by land.

“They were then brought to Kelantan by boat from Thailand. The transporter would then drive them to the residence in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

Ruslin said early investigations found that the syndicate had been operating for two months.

The transporter is being investigated under Section 26A of the Anti-Trafficking In Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, while the migrants aged 21 to 38, are being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63, Passport Act 1966 and Immigration Regulations 1963.