[Watch] Malaysian Forced To Eat Pork, Tortured With Electric Shocks By Cambodia Scammer Syndicate

Copyright therakyatpost

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter, or Telegram and WhatsApp channels for the latest stories and updates. A 36-year-old Malaysian man says he was forced to work 14-hour days as a scammer, fed pork, and tortured with electric shocks during four months trapped by human traffickers in Cambodia. The man, who goes by Joe, was among five Malaysians rescued by the Foreign Ministry in August from a scammer syndicate in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Speaking at the Skudai state assemblywoman Marina Ibrahim’s service centre, Joe said his nightmare began when a friend offered him a job as a satay griller in Cambodia for about USD1,500 (RM6,300) a month. I was already working as a satay griller in Johor Bahru, so when a friend offered the same job overseas with good pay, I was interested. Plus he had stories about being able to buy luxury cars. He flew to Cambodia in April, with his friend covering the flight ticket and giving him RM2,000 cash. But the promised job turned into a trap. Tortured For Missing Targets After being drugged at a luxury hotel, Joe was taken to a scammer compound in Sihanoukville equipped with dormitories and technology equipment. I was forced to make phone calls pretending to be a police officer or Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) official. Joe had to hit monthly targets of RM50,000 to RM100,000. Failure meant torture and being locked in a room without food, given only a bottle of water. He said more than 40 Malaysians worked at the compound alongside foreigners from Russia, Brazil and Arab countries. Workers were forced to live in mixed-gender conditions and given pork and alcohol. Escape Through Mobile Phones Joe and four other Malaysians managed to escape when the syndicate gave them mobile phones before planning to move them to the Laos border to work as forced laborers or beggars. That’s when we took the chance to contact Skudai assemblyman Marina Ibrahim for help. The five were successfully brought home on August 16. Throughout the rescue period, I was thinking between life and death – wondering what would come first, help or being killed or taken to the Laos border. Joe’s friend later apologized and revealed he received USD2,000 (about RM8,400) commission for each victim he recruited. In recent years, there have been multiple reports of Malaysians and other victims from multiple countries being trafficked to Cambodia, often under the guise of job offers. Just like Joe, they have suffered severe abuse and torture. READ MORE: [Watch] Malaysian Woman From Klang Tortured With Electric Shocks Daily In Cambodia Trafficking Scam READ MORE: Chinese Community More Likely To Comply With Ransom Demands READ MORE: Malaysian Slave Labour Forced To Eat Rat Meat While In Myanmar Parts of this story have been sourced from Sinar Harian and NST. Share your thoughts with us via TRP’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Threads.