Drug raid by police found 42 illegal immigrants on transit home

SEPANG: A total of 42 illegal immigrants were found in hiding during a raid by the police at a townhouse, suspected to be used for drug smuggling, in Cyberjaya last Dec 11.

Sepang district police chief ACP Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof told a press conference here today that the illegal immigrants, including a child, all of them Indonesians, were believed to have been placed there as transit home by the "tekong darat" (ground coordinator).

He said the house was rented early this month from a local man who is working in Singapore.

"When the raid was carried out (Dec 11), the "tekong darat" managed to flee by jumping through the back door (of the house)," he said, adding that following a search, the police found 0.24 grammes of syabu and cash of RM7,000 in the house.

However, he said, the police managed to track down the "tekong darat" and arrested the 42-year-old local man in the Dengkil area yesterday (Dec 14) and he is in remand for four days until Dec 17 for investigation.

."Based on an investigation, the 42 foreigners were to have left the country by boat on the night of Dec 11, either via Bagan Lalang or Tanjung Rhu Beach," he said, adding that the foreigners were also in remand for 14 days from Dec 11.

In a separate case, Wan Kamarul Azran said the police arrested four local men who were believed to be involved in stealing abandoned vehicles in condominium car parks in Cyberjaya.

He said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to steal old vehicles that had been parked in the condominium area for a long time, and then towed them to a workshop to be dismantled.

The vehicle components and frames were then sold at junk shops, he added.

He said the arrest was made after a report was lodged last Dec 5 on a stolen Proton Satria.

Following intelligence work and raids, the police recovered components of six vehicles reported stolen in Cyberjaya, he said, adding that two of the arrests were made in Cyberjaya last Dec 5, followed by the third and fourth arrest in Klang and Sepang, respectively last Dec 13.

The suspects, aged between 26 and 38 are remanded for investigation under Section 379A of the Penal

-- BERNAMA