Two arrested in baby-selling probe
KUALA LUMPUR: Police have formed a task force to investigate allegations in a documentary aired by Al Jazeera on the rampant sale of babies in Malaysia.
Federal CID director Comm Datuk Seri Mohmad Salleh said the task force, dubbed Op Baby, was formed on Wednesday.
"The team of 32 personnel from the (D7C) Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants unit with the help of D10 and D11, led by Supt Cha Hoong Fong, launched a series of raids in the Klang Valley.
"They raided three clinics and four premises in Klang, Puchong, Seremban, Sepang and Tanjung Sepat.
"We arrested three people including a 38-year-old woman, known as Bonda, and a 54-year-old private clinic doctor," he said, adding that both suspects had been remanded.
He said police have classified the case as trafficking of children under Section 14 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Act.
"Operations will be on-going to track other individuals," he said.
Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said recently that the 25-minute video, which aired on Nov 25, had portrayed Malaysia as a hub for the booming sale of babies, with syndicates working together with civil servants.
"We do not deny that there are cases of babies for sale in the country, but it is not as simple as portrayed in the documentary and we are constantly monitoring these illicit activities," he was quoted as saying.
Cops get statement from Al-Jazeera journo over baby-selling documentary
KUALA LUMPUR: Police have recorded a statement from the Al-Jazeera journalist involved in making the Malaysia: Babies for Sale - 101 East documentary that described the country as a hub for the sale of babies.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar (pic) confirmed that police contacted the journalist, who is a local, on the same day the documentary was aired on Nov 25.
”Immediately when the (documentary) was out, our officers from CID (the Criminal Investigation Department) contacted her, and we are in contact with her,” he said, adding that she had been very cooperative.
“We are looking at the information given by the journalist and we are working on it,” he told reporters at the Bukit Aman police headquarters.
Khalid had earlier refuted claims made in the 25-minute documentary which portrayed Malaysia as a booming hub for the sale of babies with syndicates working together with civil servants.
“The documentary also claims that the syndicate is a network of traffickers, doctors and government officials allegedly involved in the trafficking of babies.
“We do not deny that there are cases of babies for sale in the country, but it is not as simple as portrayed in the documentary and we are constantly monitoring these illicit activities,” he said in a statement Saturday.
Khalid said that such efforts have been redoubled with the establishment of the Anti Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Unit (D7C) in 2008, and the Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division (D11).
On Tuesday, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said that police had formed a special unit to investigate the 101 East findings.
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