47 held in 'African scam' crackdown

[BalanceOfPower]

Published: Friday December 13, 2013 MYT 9:43:00 PM
Updated: Friday December 13, 2013 MYT 9:55:28 PM

47 held in 'African scam' crackdown

BY M. KUMAR

KUALA LUMPUR: Police nabbed 47 people, including 11 women, in an operation cracking down on “African scams” in the country.

The operation, codenamed Ops Tiong, started around midnight Thursday, involving 242 police personnel and about 40 immigration officers.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigations Department (CCID) deputy director SAC Datuk Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof said suspects were picked up in raids at various locations in and around Taman Sri Kuching, Kepong here.

“Thirty-seven of those arrested were Nigerians while some were from Ghana and other parts of Africa. Three locals were also among those detained,” he said.

Police also seized 11 laptops, 10 mobile phones and RM500 cash.

SAC Mohd Rodwan said 22 out of the 47 arrested were handed over to the Immigration Department as they lacked the proper travel documents.

“Most of these African syndicate members enter the country using student visas. These scams are various con jobs perpetrated by syndicates from Africa.

“Scams involving Africans are getting serious in the country with more people falling prey to them,” he said.

He added that the number of arrests related to such scams had been on the rise this year with 476 arrests compared with 413 last year.