(June 15): Thai police have arrested the main suspect, believed to be the culprit behind human trafficking cases in Wang Kelian, Perlis near Malaysian-Thai border recently, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.

He said the suspect, identified as “Yassin”, a Rohingya ethnic was picked up by the Thai police and will be brought to Malaysia soon for questioning.

"We thanked the Thai government for their cooperation and the arrest of several other suspects that we have identified including 'Yassin'," he said at Kuala Lumpur police headquarters today.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar in a Bernama report on June 2 said police have identified an individual known “Yassin” as the main suspect who acted as an agent of human trafficking syndicates in Wang Kelian.

He said investigations have been carried out to find all suspects who are believed to be involved and further action would be taken to stop such syndicates.

"For your information, among the Rohingyas, the name Yassin is a common name, like Aung (for) non-Muslims... for Muslims, it is Yassin.

“So, we know who he is (Yassin), Let us conduct our investigation and take further action," he told reporters after attending the installation ceremony for senior police officers and handing over of duties of the Integrity and Standard Compliance Department (JIPS) director and JIPS Police Family Association (Perkep) chairman in Putrajaya.

Meanwhile, on the discovery of another human trafficking camp at Malaysian soil, 100m from border at Hutan Simpan Mata Aye in Perlis, Zahid said the camp was only temporary unlike the ones in Thailand.

"The semi permanent camp is in Thailand. The one here was only temporary when they ran from Thailand," said Zahid.

According to Utusan Malaysia, the second camp which can accommodate some 300 people, looked more "proper" as it has access to clean water taken from the nearby hill and electricity from generator that was hidden underground to avoid the noise and detection from authorities.

The camp was also equipped with a surau (Muslim place of worship), clinic and kitchen.

Also found were 30 graves believed to be of the Rohingya refugees who were part of those smuggled by the human trafficking ring at border.

Zahid also said police suspected there were more than three kingpins involved in human trafficking at borders after being asked to verify The Star report on the issue.

He added that some of those identified were Malaysians.

"Some are still here some already fled the country but we will hunt them down."

The Star today carried a report saying that police are closing on key suspects who believed to be top three Malaysian kingpins of an international human trafficking ring.

The daily said an elite police team from Bukit Aman put on task to investigate the human trafficking of Rohingya and Bangladeshis at the Malaysian-Thai border has identified the key suspects after the arrests of more than 70 of their runners.

They are also monitoring the suspects who are based in Penang, Perlis and Kedah. – The Malaysian Insider