Malaysian police rescued 11 Bangladeshi and four Myanmar nationals, who were captive by a human trafficking syndicate in George Town, Penang.
In George Town, police stormed into two adjacent 15th floor flat units on Macallum Street Ghaut to rescue the 11 Bangladeshis, the Malaysian English daily the Star reported on Thursday.
They were suspected to have been held for weeks by a local illegal immigrant trafficking syndicate.
The syndicate was demanding ransom of up to RM10,000 each from the families of the victims.
The Bangladeshis looked weak and despondent when police rescued them at about 2pm on Wednesday after monitoring the place for several days, following a tip-off.
Four people, aged between 20 and 50, were arrested in the raid. One of them was a woman.
They were watching over the victims.
Penang Deputy CID chief Asst Comm Nasir Salleh said police would hold a press conference over the matter soon.
When the four Myanmar men were rescued, they were weak, hungry and stripped of all dignity as human traffickers had chained them together like slaves.
Investigations showed that the rescued foreigners were victims of a human trafficking syndicate whose members comprise Malaysians and Myanmarese.
The victims were being held captive with the intention of getting ransom from their families.
One of the victims told the police that he had entered the country nine days ago.
He claimed that his family had to pay RM2,000 to the syndicate before he could be taken to work at a construction site.
Police are now on the hunt for the mastermind.
