Passport forgery ring foiled

BINTULU: No matter how well a syndicate operates, they end up making a mistake that costs them dearly.

Such was the conclusion for a group of nine men who attempted to evade the authorities with their illegal operation.

Sarawak Immigration Department said their enforcement division have successfully dismantled a passport forgery syndicate in an operation dubbed ‘Ops Serkap’ held around Bintulu town.

Eight Indonesians and one local, suspected to be the mastermind, were arrested at various locations on Jan 9 and 10.

The arrests were the culmination of weeks of intelligence gathering and observation by a dedicated team of officers from the department’s enforcement division.

Following this success, the department expressed their appreciation to the public’s cooperation in providing crucial information to bring down the syndicate.

The department assured that strict action will be taken against any parties or individuals found to have committed an offence in the form of forging passports or travel documents.

This is in accordance with the law under the Immigration Act 1959/63, the Passport Act 1966 and the Immigration Regulations 1963.

Immigration photo shows some of the suspects arrested for allegedly operating a passport forgery syndicate.

Immigration enforcement officers arresting some of the suspects believed to be part of a passport forgery syndicate in Bintulu.