KUALA LUMPUR: Immigration officers detained 68 foreigners, including 47 Thai women working as guest relations officers (GROs), in a raid on a Jalan Ampang nightclub during Ops Gegar at midnight.
The operation turned physical briefly when officers scuffled with security guards before securing the premises. Some women attempted to flee when they spotted the enforcement team.
Kuala Lumpur Immigration director Datuk Hamsha Injau said 113 people were screened. The detainees comprised 47 Thai women, seven Thai men and 14 Bangladeshi men.
The women reportedly earned commissions of up to RM3,000 a night for entertaining patrons. Hamsha said the nightclub used special sashes and outfits to display the rates customers paid, ranging from RM100 to RM3,000.
"The highest rate went up to RM3,000, while others were priced at RM1,000, RM500 and as low as RM100, which were distributed as commissions to the women," he said.
Hamsha said the raid followed public complaints, intelligence shared by partner agencies and two months of surveillance by the department.
Besides live singing and dancing, the club offered private karaoke rooms where GROs entertained patrons.
A security guard, who said he had worked at the club for nearly eight years under different managements, said he did not know how long it had been operating.
Hamsha said most of the foreigners had entered Malaysia on social visit passes but were engaged in immoral activities.
Checks also found foreign workers with employment passes for other sectors, including cleaning and construction, working at the entertainment outlet.
"We (Immigration) would like to remind foreign workers in Malaysia to comply with their pass conditions. If the pass is for the construction sector, work at construction sites.
"Here, we found construction and cleaning pass holders working in an entertainment outlet. They clearly violated the conditions of their passes, and action is being taken under Section 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1963," he said.
He said operations targeting foreigners abusing social visit passes would be intensified across the federal capital.
The detainees, aged between 20 and 55, were taken to the Bukit Jalil Immigration Depot. Five locals were issued witness summonses to assist investigations.
Also present during the operation were Kuala Lumpur Immigration deputy director (Control) Azhar Ahmad and enforcement officers from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd