KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Immigration Department (Immigration) has busted an 'outcall girl' prostitution syndicate and arrested 48 foreign women in a special operation held at three separate locations in the capital, yesterday.
Immigration Department Deputy Director-General (Operations) Jafri Embok Taha said that those arrested, aged between 18 and 36, were 32 Indonesians, 13 Thais and three Vietnamese.
He said in the operation that started at 8pm, the department also arrested an Afghan man and a local man believed to be acting as 'transporters', along with two local men acting as caretakers of the premises.
All of them were aged between 34 and 44 years old.
"Preliminary checks found that the eight Thai women who were detained had Social Visit Passes that were still valid, while the others did not have any valid travel documents or passports to be in the country.
"The operation team also seized a number of condoms, sex equipment, eight Thai passports, RM300 in cash, towels, CCTV equipment and a Perodua Axia car," he said in a statement today.
Jafri said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to promote the sex services of foreign women by using their photos through the Telegram and WhatsApp applications.
"Those selected will be delivered to the hotel or place desired by the customer through a local man who acts as a 'transporter'.
"The fee charged to the customer ranges from RM400 to RM1,200 according to the package provided and payment transactions are made in cash or online before the 'outcall girl' is handed over to the customer," he said, adding that the syndicate was suspected to have been in operation for a year.
He added the special operation involved a team of officers and members from the department's Intelligence and Special Operations Division.
He said the operation was carried out following complaints and intelligence for two weeks.
Commenting further, Jafri said all foreign nationals were detained for further investigation in accordance with the Immigration Act 1959/63, the Passport Act 1966 and the Immigration Regulations 1963.
"They were taken to the Semenyih Immigration Depot in Selangor, while a local man was detained to assist the investigation under Section 55E of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
"Other local men were arrested on suspicion of committing an offence under Section 56(1)(d) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, while a total of five local men were given a notice to appear at the office to assist with the investigation," he said.