Crime in Malaysia manifests in various forms, including drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, corruption, black marketeering, and many others.
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Malaysia is a destination, supply and transit point for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation.[1] Women and girls from Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are trafficked to Malaysia.[1] Malaysia is a transit country along with Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand in Chinese human trafficking.[2] Women from Malaysia are trafficked into the People's Republic of China.[2] Migrants from countries in the region work as domestic servants and laborers in the construction and agricultural sectors and face exploitative conditions.[1]
Between 2005 to September 2009, more than 36,858 women were arrested for prostitution in Malaysia.[3]
Drug trafficking is a problem, heroin being the primarily used drug.[1] Drug trafficking is punishable by the death penalty,[4] a measure which was introduced during the 1980s to combat drug offenses, and was highlighted following the 1986 execution of Kevin John Barlow and Brian Geoffrey Chambers.
Violent crime against foreign tourists is less common in Malaysia.[5] However pickpocketing and burglaries are common criminal activities directed against foreigners.[5] Other types of non-violent crime include credit card fraud and motor vehicle theft;[5] credit card fraud has a high rate in the country.[5][6] Scams are a problem in Kuala Lumpur which involve card games and purchase of gold jewellery.[4]
Corruption is a problem, but less common than in most other countries in Southeast Asia.[7] Only Singapore is considered less corrupt by the Transparency International (TI).[7] Malaysia suffers from corporate fraud in the form of intellectual property theft.[8] Counterfeit production of several goods including IT products, automobile parts etc. are prevalent.[8]
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