76 illegal immigrants arrested by Army as part of ongoing Ops Benteng enforcement

PETALING JAYA: Seventy six illegal immigrants have been caught by the Armed Forces as part of the ongoing Ops Benteng enforcement.

"On Jan 13 at around 3.40am, an officer on duty at an observation post detected a boat disembarking illegal immigrants 100m away from the coast of Teluk Ramunia, Kota Tinggi in Johor. At the same time, a patrol team detected a group of illegal immigrants assembling at a nearby forest.

"A raid at 4.35am led to the capture of 55 illegal immigrants that had been hiding in the forest," the Third Division Malaysian Infantry at Kem Terendak, Melaka, said in a statement Thursday (Jan 14).

More arrests were made in the following hours, which led to a total of 70 Indonesians caught.

Then on Jan 14, at around 4.55am, another boat was detected near Kampung Tanjung Che Lahom.

Six more illegal immigrants were caught then.

"It is believed that they were waiting on the boat to return home. All have been brought to the Tanjung Sepang tactical headquarters and they will be sent for Covid-19 tests before being handed over to the Immigration Department.

"A quick reaction force team is being mobilised to track down any possible illegal immigrants within the area," it said.