KL police probe smuggling syndicate

KL police probe smuggling syndicate

MALAYSIA: Malaysian police are investigating whether government
officials are helping syndicates involved in human smuggling,
after several traffickers and their foreign victims were
mysteriously released from detention, a newspaper said on Sunday.

Three suspected operators of a trafficking network, 31 Chinese
citizens traveling on stolen South Korean passports and two Sri
Lankans using forged Malaysian passports were nabbed when they
flew into Turkey on Oct. 1 while trying to enter Europe, the New
Sunday Times reported.

Turkish airport authorities sent them back on a Malaysia
Airlines flight to their previous stop, Kuala Lumpur, where they
were handed over to immigration officials, the newspaper said,
citing anonymous sources.

However, the traffickers were then freed and allowed to fly to
Thailand. The illegal immigrants were also released and given
documents allowing them to leave Malaysia.

Musa Hassan, Malaysia's police director of criminal
investigations, has ordered a probe into whether the incident
indicated that trafficking syndicates have enlisted the help of
corrupt government officials, the report said. Federal police
were not immediately available to provide other details. -- AP