Nine individuals were arrested during yesterday’s operation which was launched following public tip-offs and intelligence gathered over two weeks.

In a statement, immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban said the scam targeted Bangladeshi tourists arriving at KLIA by selling SIM cards to them.

He said SIM cards from various Malaysian telecommunication companies were believed to be registered under other peoples’ names and were sold for RM25 each.

The sale of these SIM cards could generate between RM1,500 and RM2,000 per day.

Zakaria said four Bangladeshi passports, 10 mobile phones, 121 SIM cards from various telcos, eight SIM card eject pins, and RM1,555 in cash were seized.

Five of the Bangladeshi men arrested did not have valid travel documents, two had overstayed and two others are believed to have violated the terms of their temporary work pass.

Zakaria added that all the foreign nationals were taken to the Putrajaya immigration office for further investigation.