MALAYSIA: A syndicate of street beggars in Johor Bahru was busted by the Malaysian Immigration Department last week, resulting in the detention of six Chinese nationals.
The syndicate involved people with disabilities, Malaysian national news agency Bernama reported on Sept 8 (Sunday).
Datuk Mohd Rusdi Mohd Darus, the State Immigration director, said three men and three women between the ages of 51 and 63 were detained on Sept 5 at around 4:20 in the afternoon.
Tip-offs from the public had alerted the police to the syndicate’s activities.
Officers then surveilled foreign nationals who had been using an apartment in Johor Bahru as their meeting point so that the beggars could give the members of the syndicate the money they had collected from begging over a period of two months.
In a Facebook post last Sunday, Datuk Mohd said, “The syndicate was led by two women who collected the earnings from their male counterparts, some of whom were missing a leg or an arm.
These women acted as the ‘up-line’ for the beggars, distributing the collected funds among them.” He also said that authorities were able to seize RM4,682 (S$1,407) in cash, as well as several foreign currency notes, during the bust.
Bernama added that initial investigations have shown that every month, each beggar made between RM2,400 (S$721) and RM12,000 (S$3,606). Beggars with physical disabilities could earn additional incentives of as much as RM1,200 (S$360) every month.
The case is currently being investigated under Malaysia’s Immigration Act.
In January, Johor’s immigration officials said foreign beggars could earn as much as RM10,000 (S$3004) monthly.
The authorities carried out a joint operation at Iskandar Puteri night market that showed that the beggars collect donations that they said would go to tahfiz schools and religious institutions.
The operation came in the wake of three Cambodian and two Thai men getting arrested earlier. An Indonesian man and a woman operating stalls at the night market were also arrested on Jan 31, reported FMT at the time.
“Some of them are disabled. These people can earn up to RM300 (S$90) a day or RM10,000 a month,” said Johor immigration director Baharuddin Tahir.
In April last year, police in Johor arrested a man who had been begging at Pasir Gudang. The non-Malaysian man had copies of his travel documents and RM2,500 (S$752) in cash at the time of his arrest. /TISG
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