Immigration Detains Pakistani national and Seizes Vehicle Over Unauthorized Use of Official Logo and Warning Lights

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 10 — The Immigration Department has arrested a Pakistani national suspected of equipping a private vehicle with the department’s official logo and emergency directional warning lights, executing the operation within 24 hours of video footage going viral on social media.

Immigration Director-General Datuk Zakaria Shaaban confirmed that enforcement officers launched a targeted raid at 4:30 pm yesterday at the PV3 Platinum Hill Condominium in Setapak, following operational intelligence gathered from the viral clip displaying a foreign national operating a vehicle bearing official departmental markings.

The inspection of the condominium unit also led to the arrest of an Indonesian woman who had overstayed her visa in Malaysia, alongside the recovery of two third-party Indonesian passports found in the Pakistani suspect’s possession.

“Preliminary investigations into the individual featured in the viral video found that the video was recorded in April 2025 and was only uploaded as a WhatsApp status by the individual’s wife on Aug 7. The individual’s wife is in Indonesia, and the video was uploaded while she was there,” Zakaria said in an official statement today.

Zakaria stated that the Pakistani suspect was detained for alleged offences under Section 12(1)(f) of the Passports Act 1966 and the Immigration Act 1959/63, while the Indonesian woman was detained under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.

Following the initial arrests, the enforcement team tracked down the Toyota Hilux featured in the viral video to a car wash premises located along Jalan Kuching in Kuala Lumpur.

Authorities subsequently arrested the vehicle’s registered owner, also a Pakistani national, together with eight foreign employees present at the location, comprising four Bangladeshis, three Pakistanis, and one Indian national.

The vehicle owner is currently being investigated under Section 55B of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for employing workers without valid permits, while the eight foreign workers were detained under Section 6(1)(c) of the same Act for lacking valid travel documents.

Initial interrogations revealed that the vehicle owner admitted to installing the official emblem and directional lights purely for personal convenience rather than official duties, claiming he was unaware that doing so constituted an offence. The owner further claimed that the logo and lights had already been removed before the footage gained widespread attention online.

All ten suspects and the impounded Toyota Hilux have been brought to the Immigration Department headquarters for detailed investigation and legal proceedings.

–NMT