TEMPO.CO, Wang Kelian (AP) - Malaysian authorities said on Monday, May 25, 2015, that abandoned jungle camps used by human traffickers contained over 100 suspected graves as well as pens likely used as cages for migrants, shedding more light on a regional trade that preyed on some of Southeast Asia's most desperate people.

National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said that 139 suspected graves were found amid signs of "cruelty and torture" at 28 camps in the hilly jungle area on the border with Thailand where trafficking syndicates were known to operate.

"It is a very sad scene," Khalid told reporters in the northern state of Perlis at a police outpost several kilometers from the camps.

At one camp, police found "a highly decomposed body" that will be examined by forensics experts as teams began the work of digging up the areas believed to be graves — mounds of earth, covered with leaves and marked by sticks, Khalid said.

"We have discovered 139 of what we believe to be graves," he said. "We believe they are victims of human trafficking.

The finding follows a similar discovery earlier this month by police in Thailand who unearthed dozens of bodies from shallow graves on the Thai side of the border. The discoveries have exposed hidden networks of jungle camps run by human smugglers, who have for years held countless desperate people captive while extorting ransoms from their families.

Most of those who have fallen victim to the trafficking networks are impoverished refugees fleeing Myanmar and migrants from Bangladesh, part of a wave of people who have fled their homelands to reach countries like Malaysia, where they hope to find work or live free from persecution.

As Southeast Asian governments have launched crackdowns in recent weeks amid intensified international pressure and media scrutiny, traffickers have abandoned camps on land and boats at sea to avoid arrest.

Human rights groups and activists say the area on the Thai-Malaysia border has been used for years to smuggle migrants and refugees, including Rohingya Muslims, a persecuted minority in Myanmar.

In many cases, they pay human smugglers thousands of dollars for passage, but are instead held for weeks or months, while traffickers extort more money from families back home.

AP