A SEARCH operation by a VAT 69 commando team in the forest of Genting Perah, Perlis, in March 2015, discovered of an abandoned transit camp with 14 tents, a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) panel was told today.

Inspector Mohamad Afiq Sarmid, who was on the VAT 69 search team that is based in Ulu Kinta, Perak, said the team arrested five illegal immigrants about 200m from the camp.

He said the team of 24 personnel conducted a search following the discovery of a transit camp and graves in Bukit Wang Burma in January 2015. He said the team tasked to find out if there was a settlement of illegal immigrants in Genting Perah.

“It took time for us to reach the place and we only found the place on the third day, which was March 13,” he said, adding that he was instructed by the Intelligence Staff Officer to lead the operation.

Afiq, who is the VAT 69 Delta Squadron assistant commander, said the camp the team found was an old one as only the frames of the tents were still standing.

Following the discovery of the camp, he said the team combed the nearby areas and found five foreigners, who were searched. A pistol and a knife were found on two Thai nationals. The three others were Rohingya, but they did not have valid travel documents, he added.

Afiq said he then contacted the commanding officer at the tactical headquarters who instructed him to head back and hand over the evidence as well as the five foreigners to the Special Branch at Perlis police headquarters.

Questioned by RCI deputy chairman Norian Mai on why no graves were found during the operation,  Afiq said he was just following instructions and that the mission was to check for the presence of illegal immigrants.

The next witness, Inspector Mohd Husyairi Musa, who was ordered to bring the illegal immigrants to the Padang Besar district police headquarters, said the foreigners were handed over to him at a rubbish dumpsite at the Perlis National Park about 5pm on March 13, 2015.

Husyairi, who was then operation intelligence inspector at the Padang Besar district police headquarters, said the foreigners were handed over to him with their hands bound and another search yielded a brown bag containing RM410 and 100 baht. – Bernama, April 25, 2019.