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Kuala Lumpur: The Kuala Lumpur branch of the immigration department crippled a syndicate that had exploited foreigners and children to beg around the federal capital during a raid at Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah last night.

It was discovered that children as young as 10 months and up to six years old were given medicine believed to induce sleep before being taken by adults to beg on streets such as Jalan Chow Kit, Jalan Masjid India and Jalan Sentul in the morning – a tactic believed to be aimed at garnering public sympathy and increasing profits.

Several bottles of cough medicine were found during the 9pm raid on a four-storey shophouse building rented by the foreigners involved.

It is learnt that the building had housed foreign nationals from Pakistan, Indonesia and India, with about eight people, including children, crammed into a small room, paying a monthly rental of RM800.

The raid also uncovered a passport forgery syndicate operating under the guise of laundry shops, telecommunications stores and barber shops.

A Bernama reporter who was present during the raid said the back part of the premises was used as the syndicate’s office, with the businesses serving to conceal the illegal activities from the authorities.

Dozens of passports, suspected to have fake stamps, were also found on the premises.

Kuala Lumpur immigration director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff said the raid, which concluded at around midnight, was the result of six months of intelligence work carried out by his team at the location.

He said 79 foreigners and one local man, aged between 10 months and 59 years, were detained.

“A total of 77 Pakistani nationals were detained, comprising 44 men, 22 women, four boys and seven girls, along with one Indonesian woman, one Indian woman and one local man,” he said in a statement today.

Wan Mohammed Saupee said the detainees were taken to the Bukit Jalil immigration depot and are being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Passports Act 1966.