Operation exposed: Detainees walking out of the hotel after the raid at Jalan Ipoh.
KUALA LUMPUR: A three-star hotel in Jalan Ipoh was operating as a brothel, specialising in foreign prostitutes, for the past year before the Immigration Department busted its operation.
While they cater to walk-in customers, the syndicate also accepts bookings via WhatsApp, with the price for engaging the sex workers set from RM250 to RM400 per hour.
Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said 36 foreigners aged between 19 and 61 were detained in the raid conducted by the department’s Special Intelligence and Operations Division on Friday night.
“Those arrested included two Myanmar men, one Indian man, one Indonesian man, 17 Indonesian women, nine Thai women, six Vietnamese women and a woman from Laos.
“Preliminary checks revealed that several of them had overstayed their visas or misused their entry passes, while others had no valid travel documents at all,” he said in a statement.
Various items were seized, including six Thai passports, three Vietnamese passports and three Indonesian passports, he added.
Investigations revealed that the hotel had been operating as a prostitution hub since September last year, Zakaria said.
“All of them have been taken to the department headquarters in Putrajaya.
“Seven local men were also issued notices to assist in the investigation,” he said.
Meanwhile, in another operation on Saturday, Zakaria said the department raided an entertainment outlet run by Myanmar nationals in Nilai, Negri Sembilan.
A total of 21 women from Myanmar, aged between 25 and 40, were detained.
“One of them is believed to be the ‘caretaker’ of the premises, while the others were suspected to be working as hostesses,” he said.
Investigations showed that the entertainment outlet operated only on weekends and catered exclusively to Myanmar customers, Zakaria said.
“For entry, patrons are required to purchase liquor, after which they can hire hostesses at rates between RM150 and RM200.
“The business had reportedly been running for the past three months,” he added.
Those detained have been brought to Putrajaya for further action, while five Myanmar men and one woman were issued notices to assist with the probe.
