Trio charged with immigration breaches

THREE foreigners were arrested and charged by the Task Force Rausim Alien team yesterday for allegedly breaching immigration laws.
Amin Nurul and Mohammed Sadiqur Rahman were charged with submitting fraudulent documents to obtain entry permits contravening section 16(1)(j) of the Immigration Act while Santos Reymundo was charged with illegally residing in the country under section 16(1)(a) of the same act.
The trio was taken to the organised crime unit at the police headquarters in Konedobu, Port Moresby, where formal charges were laid against them before being taken to the Boroko police station cells for detention.
Nurul and Rahman were alleged members of the Bangladesh human-smuggling racket that operated out of Hanuabada village in the National Capital District.
The alleged leader of the racket, Mohammed Nizam Uddin Mahmud, was arrested by the task force last month and slapped with similar charges.
Reymundo was in the country on a tourist visa but had failed to renew it after it expired.
Task force coordinator John Bria said two other people who harboured and aided Nurul and Rahman were under investigations.
The pair was picked up at a shop at Scratchley Road in Badili.
“The team has a list of all the members involved in the racket and have already blocked of all exit points around the country including land and sea borders and intelligence agencies have been notified,” Bria said.
“We will start to hunt down other syndicate members in the country.
“This is a mammoth task and anybody found harbouring or aiding (them) will face the full force of the law.”
The task force leader said a Filipino woman, who operated a visa and work permit company, was also under investigation after she allegedly submitted false documents to obtain a work permit for a client of hers.
Bria said the women gave false information to authorities stating that her client was an engineer.
“When we cross-checked with the concerned bodies overseas, they said they did not know of such a person,” Bria said.
He said the woman and her lawyer would be questioned regarding the matter because the lawyer had confirmed that the client’s documents were genuine.
“I am warning all visa and work permit agents to comply with the laws in making applications for work and entry permits and not to submit false documents to make fast money,” he said.