Counter setting: Immigration officer caught with 'notes'
The Border Control and Protection Agency has arrested an immigration officer for alleged involvement with a “counter setting” syndicate that facilitated the entry and exit of undocumented migrants in Malaysia.
Officers from the agency’s monitoring and integrity units arrested the immigration officer at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s Terminal 1, after noticing him behaving suspiciously at the immigration entry counter through CCTV cameras.
The Border Control and Protection Agency has arrested an immigration officer for alleged involvement with a “counter setting” syndicate that facilitated the entry and exit of undocumented migrants in Malaysia.
Officers from the agency’s monitoring and integrity units arrested the immigration officer at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s Terminal 1, after noticing him behaving suspiciously at the immigration entry counter through CCTV cameras.
“Preliminary investigations found notes containing the last four digits of passport numbers, believed to be tied to arranging the illegitimate entry and exit of individuals,” the agency said in a statement today.
The agency also seized over RM8,000 in cash and three electronic devices found to be in the immigration officer’s possession.
The officer was initially handed over to the agency’s KLIA integrity unit for internal investigations, before being handed over to the Selangor MACC for further action.
“The agency takes seriously all forms of integrity violations, especially concerning the security of the country’s entry points, and will take stern action against any officers involved.
“The agency will continue to commit to further strengthening internal monitoring and inter-agency cooperation to combat misconduct among officers,” they announced in a statement today.
New modus operandi
Previously, Malaysiakini reported that the “Fly” syndicate has resorted to a new modus operandi to evade detection by the authorities, and allow foreigners to overstay their permits illegitimately and escape action even if their documents are checked during an immigration raid.
This entailed writing down the foreigners’ passport numbers on a small piece of paper, which would be handed to a lower-ranking immigration officer acting as a “runner”.
The runner then allegedly passes the information to an immigration officer stationed at the immigration counter, such as at KLIA.
“The officer will key in the passport details into the system as though the foreign national has passed through immigration. The fee charged is around RM1,500 per person.
“Then, the agent holding the foreigner’s passport will stamp the document using a fake stamp that can easily be found in several foreign-owned restaurants around Jalan Ipoh and Chow Kit (in Kuala Lumpur), for a fee of RM50,” an agent told Malaysiakini.
The change came following increased scrutiny on counter setting activities at the country’s entry points.
