MELAKA: A total of 21 foreign women providing guest relation officer (GRO) services to various outlets here were detained following separate raids by the Immigration Department.
Melaka Immigration Department director Anirwan Fauzee Mohd Aini said three premises were raided during a series of operations that ended at 1am on Tuesday (Dec 13).
"From our intelligence gathering we found that the foreign women moved from one place to another to provide GRO services depending on the demand from outlet owners," he said on Wednesday (Dec 14).
Anirwan Fauzee said the raids were conducted at a food court, a car workshop, an entertainment outlet and a foot reflexology centre, all within the historic city centre.
He said two foreign men were also detained during the raids.
All of those detained are aged 20 to 30.
Anirwan Fauzee said his men also discovered a secret passage at the entertainment outlet at the newly opened entertainment outlet in a bid to avoid their illegal activities from being detected.
"Two men were seen guarding the entrance of the outlet during the raid while there was no business licence displayed.
"We are currently tracing the owner of the outlet," he said.
He said the foreign women were from Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and China.
Anirwan Fauzee said the foreigners had invalid travel documents and had overstayed in the country.
He said a local man was also detained to assist in the investigation.
"We have also summoned 11 individuals as witnesses to assist in our probe," he added.
