SERDANG: An Indonesian woman claimed she was deceived by a fellow countryman who promised her a restaurant job, only to be forced into working as a masseuse at a premises in Seri Kembangan.
The 25-year-old woman, identified only as Cia from Medan, said she met her acquaintance while working at a factory in Ipoh, Perak.
“I came to Malaysia in 2020. A few years later, a friend offered me a job as a restaurant waitress in Kuala Lumpur. But when I arrived, I was taken straight to a massage parlour.
“I had no choice but to continue working there as I was in debt and also needed to support my mother’s heart treatment,” she said when met during an Immigration Department raid on Saturday (Sept 27).
She was among 86 undocumented migrants detained during the Immigration Enforcement Operation targeting several massage parlours suspected of offering illicit services.
Immigration Department enforcement division director Basri Othman said the raids were conducted simultaneously across several Klang Valley locations.
“A total of 72 officers from the Immigration Department headquarters in Putrajaya were involved in the operations, which began at 5pm.
“We conducted checks on 146 individuals, comprising 60 foreigners and 86 locals,” he said.
Basri said 86 undocumented migrants were arrested for various immigration offences.
"Three local men believed to be caretakers of the premises and a Vietnamese woman acting as a ‘captain’ were also detained,” he added.
He said some foreigners attempted to flee upon realising the presence of enforcement officers.
“Some refused to open doors while others hid under beds,” he said.
"Those detained, aged between 21 and 31 years old, included 10 men and 76 women.
"They were taken to the KLIA and Bukit Jalil Immigration depots for further investigation," he said.
