The seven immigration officers held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) had colluded with heads of dangerous syndicates which posed a threat to national security, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein revealed today.

Their involvement was not restricted to human trafficking but encompassed various other serious crimes such as terrorist activities, firearms smuggling, drugs and espionage, he said.

Hishammuddin said he wanted the investigation into the case to continue so as to ensure that such activities were crippled.

"They (the officers) had been monitored for some time by the police. Their involvement with the heads of the syndicates is most dangerous and a serious matter," he told reporters at the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters.

"I view with concern these cases of (human) trafficking because it involves security at points of entry into the country and tarnishes the good name of the country as well as threatens security in the region," he said.

The seven immigration officers, one of them a deputy assistant director, were arrested under the ISA in a large-scale operation over three days from Sunday. Two foreigners, whose identities were not disclosed, have also been held under the ISA.

DG transfer 'normal procedure'

It is learnt that all the immigration officers had been serving at the KL international airport and the low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) in Sepang.

Hishammuddin said their detention could expose as well as restrict the activities of human trafficking syndicates.

"Human trafficking is a crime, and the responsibility vested with our enforcement authorities, regardless of which department they come from, must be upheld," he said.

He also defended the majority of the immigration officers, saying they discharged their duties and responsibilities with honesty and sincerity.

On the transfer of director-general of immigration Abdul Rahman Othman to the Home Ministry as secretary of the immigration division, Hishammuddin said it was a normal procedure.

"It has nothing to do with the recent cases involving the department. It is a normal procedure which involves officers in any government department," he said.

The post of director-general of immigration will be filled tomorrow by Alias Ahmad, the secretary of the security and public order division in the ministry.

- Bernama