PUTRAJAYA: Seven foreigners — five of whom were from southern Philippines and two from Indonesia — were detained in an operation by the National Registration Department (NRD) in Masai, Johor early yesterday on suspicion of using forged identity card and possessing other people’s I/Cs.
The seven who were detained including two women, aged between 19 and 55, were arrested in an operation at the Geharu Flats, Taman Rinting and Jalan Kampung Mesjid, Masai from midnight until 4am yesterday.
NRD director-general Mohd Yazid Ramli said in a statement yesterday that four of them were suspected of using forged I/Cs while the rest were using other people’s I/Cs.
“Further investigation revealed that all the I/Cs that were used had been bought from agents from Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu costing between RM300 and RM1,500 each,” he said.
Mohd Yazid said all those detained were being investigated under Regulation 25(1)(e) National Registration Regulations 1990 (Amendment 2007) which carries a jail term of not more than three years or a fine of not more than RM20,000 or both upon conviction.
“The NRD will continue to carry out operations to check documents at locations identified as settlements for foreigners abusing and forging NRD documents especially the I/C,” he added.
Meanwhile in Johor Baharu, the director of Investigation and Enforcement of the NRD, Mohd Yusri Hashim said the forged I/C or MyKad looked very similar to the original document with the photographs of the bearer shown on the front side of the card.
However, when scanned using the MyKad scanner, the information on self-identification differed from that of the bearer of the card, he said.
He said that since 2014, the department had carried out I/C Operations every month to check activities by syndicates forging the I/C, birth certificates and passports.
“Most of the information on self-identification in the forged MyKad came from users who had lost their MyKad,” he told Bernama after the I/C Operation around Johor Baharu, early yesterday.
In the ‘Ops ID’ which began at midnight last night up to 4am yesterday, 32 illegal immigrants were detained for several offences including not having travel documents, not having valid work permits and possessing forged MyKad.
In the ‘Ops ID’ Thursday night, 80 officers and men from the NRD, Immigration Department and the General Operations Force (GOF) were involved. — Bernama