PUTRAJAYA: Immigration officers arrested a foreign carpet shop proprietor, believed to be the mastermind of a syndicate which forged international passports, last week.

Immigration enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed said the suspect, aged 41, was picked up with his Filipino girlfriend at a condominium off Jalan Kuching at 10pm on Thursday.

"Our investigations revealed that this Iranian businessman, who is a frequent traveller and has a carpet shop in Rawang, is the mastermind of a six or seven member-syndicate, all from the Middle East."

Ishak said 19 fake passports were seized, including from countries such as Iran, Turkey, Oman, United Kingdom and Japan.

"We have reasons to believe that this syndicate has been making Kuala Lumpur the transit point for human trafficking activities for the past three years."
The passports were sold for between US$1,000 (RM3,200) and US$3,000 each.

He said the man's girlfriend had no valid travel documents and was remanded.

Ishak said he also received numerous complaints against foreigners, especially from African countries, who come to Malaysia on social visit passes to participate in sports events or marathons offering lucrative prizes.

"If they want to participate in sports activities or tournaments, they must get the consent or permission from authorised sports bodies in the country. Otherwise, they are committing an offence under the Immigration Act."

Ishak said he would not hesitate to act against such foreigners as well as the organisers.