KUALA LUMPUR: A group of foreign nationals posing as doctors and offering unlicensed medical services from the back of shops selling daily essentials was busted after the Immigration Department raided nine locations around Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin in Pudu.
The raids were conducted by the Immigration Department’s Special Tactical Team, in coordination with the Kuala Lumpur Health Department’s Pharmacy Enforcement branch on Friday following two weeks of surveillance.
Immigration deputy director-general (Operations) Datuk Lokman Effendi Ramli said 18 foreigners aged 24 to 51 were held, including six posing as doctors serving the community.
He said checks found the premises were operating under the guise of legitimate businesses.
“The premises raided were operating as sundry shops, textile stores, eateries, travel agency counters and barber shops at the front, while the back had been converted into makeshift consultation rooms and storage spaces for illegal medicines,” he told reporters after the operation.
Lokman Effendi said most clients were Bangladeshi nationals drawn by lower fees and easier communication, adding that inspections found the premises were supplying medicines that required specialist prescriptions.
