Undercover RTD Officers Arrest 19 Touts In KLIA

Road Transport Department (RTD) enforcement officers posing as tourists at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) detained 19 touts who offered them illegal private vehicle services from the airport to Kuala Lumpur city centre.

When approached by touts offering services priced at RM80 to RM150 to regions like as Bukit Bintang and other tourist sites in the city, the team of more than ten undercover police at the KLIA and Klia2 enforcement stations pretended to be enticed.

Once they agreed to the rates, which are higher than the legal taxi or limousine service fees at the airports, which range between RM65 and RM80, their luggage was placed into the vehicles, and the enforcement officials and raiding squad swooped in.

According to RTD Director-General Datuk Zailani Hashim, 18 touts were caught at Klia2 and another was nabbed at KLIA between December 4 and 12, as part of Operasi Ulat (Op Ulat).

He stated that 15 of the touts utilised their own private automobiles, while the remaining four used public transportation, such as taxis.

Three of them were repeat offenders, he added.

"These touts were brought to court to face charges under Section 205(1) of the Land Public Transport (APAD) Act 2010." From tomorrow till December 19, their cases will be re-mentioned.

"All of their vehicles have been impounded awaiting the outcome of the legal proceedings." If proven guilty, they face fines of up to RM50,000 or up to five years in prison, or both.

"During our inquiry, some touts stated that they turned to illicit activities after losing their jobs owing to Covid-19."

"Some of them, who were women, bemoaned the fact that they were now breadwinners for their families because their husbands had lost their jobs," Zailani told reporters today at KLIA.

Between January and December 12 of this year, the touts were fined RM426,800 under Section 205(1) of the legislation.

He stated that between 2015 and December 12 of this year, the RTD documented 630 touting-related crimes in Selangor, with 29 people imprisoned.

Zailani testified that some touts operated independently, while others were part of a network of illicit private vehicle services that approached unwary consumers in airport arrival halls.

Passengers, he continued, were lured despite knowing they would be paid more than regular airport taxi and limousine fees because they refused to wait in large lines and wanted to leave the airports as soon as possible.

Separately, Zailani stated that they were looking for the emergence of 'Ulat Jaket,' a gang of properly dressed touts with fancy automobiles who target Middle Eastern tourists.

He claims that these touting groups offer ackages worth tens of thousands of ringgit for one or two week-long vacations to places like Penang and Johor.