JOHOR BARU: More than 70 foreigners and three owners of reflexology centres have been arrested in two operations in Batu Pahat and Muar.
Johor Immigration Director Datuk Mohd Rusdi Mohd Darus said that in the first operation in Muar, the department checked nine factories and workers' hostels on Thursday (January 16) following a public tip-off.
"We inspected a total of 374 individuals, including locals, and 50 of them were believed to have committed immigration offences," he said.
The detainees include 16 individuals from Bangladesh, 32 from Myanmar, and two from Pakistan, aged between 21 and 42.
In the second operation, the department inspected 64 individuals at four reflexology centres in Batu Pahat after receiving public complaints.
"Of that number, 22 foreigners and three locals, including a 70-year-old woman, were believed to have committed immigration offences," he said.
The foreigners arrested were between 20 and 42 years old and included 20 women from Thailand, one from Indonesia, and one from Myanmar.
Mohd Rusdi said the suspects are being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963.