Illegal settlement discovered in Puncak Alam, 39 immigrants arrested

KUALA LUMPUR: The Immigration Department uncovered an illegal settlement in the wilderness in Puncak Alam and arrested 39 undocumented Indonesian immigrants.

Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said a total of 110 officers were involved in the raid, which was conducted at about 2am on Saturday (Sept 16).

"We inspected 95 foreigners at the illegal settlement.

"We detained 39 Indonesians consisting of 14 men, 22 women and three children, who were undocumented," he said in a statement on Tuesday (Sept 19).

The raiding team had to trudge in the dark for 15 minutes before reaching the settlement in the middle of a forest in Puncak Alam, he said.

"It was challenging as the settlement was in the middle of a forest, surrounded by cliffs and various passages that could be used for the illegals to escape.

"There were attempts to escape, but we managed to detain them as we have already cordoned off the area," he added.

The remaining 56 foreigners inspected were not detained as they had valid identification and work documents, Ruslin said.

"We will refer the matter of the illegal settlement to the local authority for further action.

"Those detained have been placed at the Immigration depot in Semenyih," he said.