PUTRAJAYA: Three airport officials have been arrested over their alleged involvement with a syndicate believed to be supplying fake Malaysian passports to foreigners.

Two of the executives, in their late 20s, were picked up by an Immigration Department elite squad on Friday, following the arrests of another official and a Myanmar on July 5.

Immigration enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed said all of them were believed to be involved in the syndicate, masterminded by a person known only as "Mamat" who is still at large.

Two of the officials were picked up from their workplace at the Bayan Lepas airport in Penang while it was not immediately known where the third official was detained. The Myanmar was arrested at Singapore's Changi Airport.

"Our investigations show that the airport officials had issued the Myanmar with a fake Malaysian passport to enter the country through the Bayan Lepas airport."
Ishak said following the Myanmar's arrest, Immigration officers zeroed in on a suspect who worked at the airport on the same day.

"We have evidence that the syndicate is still active at the airport."



Ishak said the passports were sold at RM10,000 each.

"A buyer has to also pay an additional charge of about RM1,000 before he is issued with a boarding pass."

He said the department would work closely with the police on the matter and that more Immigration officers would be deployed at the airport.