Six Nepalis and two Bangladeshis were also detained as they stepped out of the airport's arrival hall.

Sources said the arrest by police and Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB) could be the tip of a larger operation at KLIA, known to be among the transit points for human trafficking activities to other parts of the world.

A source told The Star the breakthrough came when one of the Bangladeshis, in his 40s, was detained at the arrival hall exit gate at 6.30pm.

"We had watched him for a while via the close-circuit television cameras and found him behaving suspiciously before picking him up."

The suspect, who has lived here for over 10 years and is possibly the mastermind, revealed that he was waiting for the arrival of a group of men.

An hour later, airport authorities spotted two immigration officers, aged 30 and 31, escorting six Nepalis and two Bangladeshis out of the arrival hall.

The authorities stopped them. It was found that the two Bangladeshis, who arrived two hours earlier from Singapore, had no valid documents.

Although, the six Nepalis, who arrived on Friday, did have travel papers with them, the source said, police were checking the authenticity of their documents.

The source said the immigration officers could be involved in the smuggling activities at the airport.

"The immigration officers have no reason to escort the men out of the arrival hall, especially when they have no documents.

"The arrest is a major breakthrough in providing details on how foreigners without valid documents were smuggled into the country," said the source.

MAB declined to comment on the operation while the Sepang district police confirmed the arrests but refused to elaborate.

The source said intelligence reports had revealed that some of the foreigners had entered and left Malaysia with different passports.

They were also believed to have secured fake documents here before leaving for Europe, the United States or Australia.

The Star

Asia News Network

PETALING JAYA