IPOH: The Immigration Department (JIM) detained 109 foreigners during two enforcement operations around the city from last night until early this morning.
JIM deputy director-general (Operations) Datuk Lokman Effendi Ramli said 34 women were detained under Ops Gegar at an entertainment centre and four massage centres, while 75 men were detained at the Ipoh Wholesale Market.
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He said the operations involved 66 personnel from Perak JIM, the Putrajaya JIM Special Operations Intelligence Division and the police.
“Ops Gegar began at 9 pm, with inspections conducted on 70 foreigners, while the operation at the Ipoh Wholesale Market began at 1.30 am and involved checks on 77 foreigners,” he told a press conference here today.
He said those detained at the Ipoh Wholesale Market were from Myanmar, Bangladesh, Laos and Indonesia, while those detained under Ops Gegar were from Thailand and Vietnam.
Lokman Effendi said the foreigners were detained on suspicion of committing various offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963, including failing to possess valid travel documents, overstaying and misusing permits or passes issued to them.
“During the raid, the foreigners tried to flee… but we managed to detain them,” he said, adding that five summonses had also been issued to employers, requiring them to appear before the Immigration enforcement division to assist in investigations.
In a separate development, Lokman Effendi said JIM had conducted more than 11,000 enforcement operations nationwide from Jan 1 to today, involving inspections of nearly 150,000 foreign nationals.
He said more than 66,000 foreigners had been detained during that period, including more than 41,000 arrested during enforcement operations, while more than 24,000 had been detained or handed over by other enforcement agencies, at the country’s entry points and through other operations.
He added that more than 45,000 foreigners had been repatriated to their respective countries after action was taken against them, while the remainder were still undergoing further action by JIM and the relevant authorities.