BUKIT MERTAJAM: Police detained two Myanmar men following a raid at a house in Simpang Ampat, Bukit Tengah, near here, on Wednesday for allegedly producing and selling fake United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees cards.
During the 9pm raid, the raiding party seized 42 UNHCR cards with names printed on them, believed to be fake, and another 25 blank cards.
The latest arrest came following police recent success in crippling a syndicate masterminded by several Rohingya to smuggle migrants into the state.
In an operation launched last month, police managed to detain five Rohingya in three separate arrests in the Seberang Prai Utara district.
They comprised two smuggling agents and one dealing in falsifying Malaysian UNHCR cards, and two migrants.
Seberang Prai Tengah police chief Assistant Commissioner Nik Ros Azhan Nik Ab Hamid said in the latest incident police searched the house and found the printed and blank UNHCR cards.
“We then detained the foreigners on suspicion of producing fake UNHCR cards. Each card was believed to have been sold for between RM50 and RM300.
“The men have been remanded for two weeks to assist investigations under Section 51(5)(b) of the Immigration Act 1959/63,” he said.
Nik Ros Azhan said police were checking with the UNHCR office’s protection unit in Kuala Lumpur to determine the authenticity of the UNHCR cards seized.
He said police had also sent the items seized for forensic analysis.
“We are also checking the suspects’ entry and exit records as well as the authenticity of an i-Kad, under the name Khaw Khaw, belonging to a 50-year-old suspect with the Immigration Department. The second suspect is aged 27.
“Our checks showed they had rented the place for six months, and had been carrying out their activities for the past one month,” he said.
Besides the UNHCR cards and the i-Kad, the raiding team also seized a Malaysian driving licence under the name of Khaw Khaw, a mobile phone, a laptop, an ID card printer, four ribbon cartridges, one pendrive, five rolls of electrical cable and four passport size photographs.
Also seized were marriage certificates under the names of Muhammad Ismail Nur Muhammad and Nur Halimah Abdullah, as well as Yasin Arfad Abul Kalam and Darsiyah Muchemi Sungep, and a driving licence under the name Shofi Alam Nozir Ahmad.
“Further investigations into the two suspects and their involvement in producing the UNHCR cards are underway,” said Nik Ros Azhan.