KUALA LUMPUR: An enforcement operation by the Immigration Department of Malaysia at two commercial centres in the capital on Saturday (Jan 17) led to the arrest of 217 undocumented migrants, believed to have committed various immigration offences.
Immigration deputy director-general (operations) Datuk Lokman Effendi Ramli said the arrests involved 55 men and 162 women, aged between 21 and 63 years old.
He said those detained were from Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries, with the highest number involving nationals from Myanmar and Indonesia.
“At the first location along Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, 876 individuals were inspected, comprising 652 foreigners and 224 Malaysians, while at the second location along Jalan Dagang, Ampang, 654 individuals were inspected, involving 394 foreigners and 260 Malaysians.
“This brings the total number of inspections carried out today to 1,530 individuals, and all those arrested will be placed at the Immigration depot,” he said at a press conference after the raid at the second location in Ampang.
Lokman also said that several foreign nationals attempted to flee upon realising the presence of enforcement officers during the operation.
“During the raid, there were foreign nationals who attempted to escape upon becoming aware of the presence of officers conducting the operation,” he said.
Meanwhile, the use of fake MyKad as well as the issuance of irregular Malaysian entry and exit stamps were also detected during the operation.
Lokman said the suspected fake MyKad had been handed over to the National Registration Department (JPN) for further action, while investigations would be carried out into the irregular entry and exit stamps to identify and apprehend those involved.
“We also discovered a suspected fake MyKad, which has been handed over to our counterparts at JPN for further action,” he said.
“In addition, we detected irregular issuance of Malaysian entry and exit stamps during this operation, and further investigations will be conducted by the Immigration Department to apprehend those involved,” he said.
Other offences identified during the operation included failure to possess valid identification documents, breach of pass conditions, illegal entry, overstaying, possession of unrecognised cards, as well as other offences under the Immigration Act.
The operation, which began at 11am and ended at about 3pm, involved 150 Immigration officers from various levels, including officers from the Immigration Department headquarters in Putrajaya, as well as 13 officers from the National Registration Department.
