46 foreign workers were detained at Arab eateries during a raid by the Malaysian Immigration Department in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, recently.
Kuala Lumpur Immigration Director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff said the operation began at around 10.40 PM and involved 35 Immigration officers who targeted food premises around Jalan Sultan Ismail, Bukit Bintang.
The operation was conducted following multiple complaints from the public, as reported by Malaysia Gazette.
A total of 68 individuals were investigated during the operation, with some of them pretending to be customers to evade the authorities.
45 were detained for various immigration offences, namely,
- Under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, for not having a valid travel document
- Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1963 for violating the conditions of a social visit pass
The nationalities of those arrested include:
- Yemen (14)
- Syria (7)
- Pakistan (4)
- Bangladesh (10)
- Egypt (4)
- Indonesia (3)
- Myanmar (1)
- Afghanistan (1)
- Philippines (1)
Preliminary surveillance and intelligence gathering easily thwarted the attempts by these foreign workers to disguise themselves as customers during the raid.
All the detained illegal immigrants have been taken to the Bukit Jalil Immigration Detention Centre for further action.
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