Papers, please: Jafri (second from right) checking a passport belonging to one of the foreign women at an entertainment outlet in Ipoh. — Picture courtesy of Immigration Department
IPOH: Two prostitution dens and three entertainment outlets offering sexual services have been busted by the Immigration Department during a special operation here.
Deputy director-general (operations) Jafri Embok Taha said the operation was conducted on Friday at 11pm, which saw the arrests of 141 people.
The operation involved Immigration officers and members from Perak, Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Perlis, he added.
Jafri said among those arrested were 117 foreign women and 13 men of various nationalities, aged between 18 and 36, and one stateless man.
“We also arrested seven local men and three local women, aged between 35 and 44, who are believed to be the caretakers of the five premises.
“We seized various items, including condoms, sex toys, documents, business records, keys, closed circuit camera (CCTV) equipment, mobile phones, passports and about RM14,155,” he told a press conference at the state Home Affairs Ministry Complex at Meru Raya here yesterday.
Jafri said the two prostitution dens promoted their foreign women by using their photographs on Telegram and WhatsApp.
“Once the girls were selected, customers would be brought to rooms provided, with fees ranging between RM200 and RM500.
“As for the ‘outcall girls,’ the fees were between RM800 and RM1,000. Payment was by cash or online transactions before the women were delivered to customers,” he added.
At the three entertainment outlets, Jafri said the services were targeted at regular customers who made reservations by phone.
“For room reservations, customers were charged between RM800 and RM10,000 depending on the room category while the women were charged RM150 for one hour.
“They have been operating for about one year and made profits of about RM24,000 per month,” he said.
Jafri said from initial investigations, the 32 Chinese women, 15 Vietnamese women, eight Thai women, two Indonesian women and one Myanmar man who were detained had social visit, special, temporary work visit and employment passes that were still valid.
Others, he said, did not have any valid travel documents or passports to be in the country.
“The foreign nationals were arrested on suspicion of having committed an offence under the Immigration Act, the Passport Act and Immigration Regulations.
“They were taken to the state Immigration Department headquarters at the Home Affairs Ministry Complex here for further action and will then later be sent to the Immigration depot at Langkap.
“The seven local men and three local women were arrested under Section 56 (1)(d) of the Immigration Act.
“We have also notified 69 local men, two Bangladesh nationals and a local woman to come forward to assist investigations,” he added.
