05 April 2013| last updated at 12:40AM
21 foreign women held for abusing social visit passes
IPOH: Immigration Department officers detained 21 foreign women after they were found to have been using a foot reflexology centre here to provide sex services to local men.
They were detained for having abused social visit passes, on Wednesday night during a raid on the two-storey premises at 8pm.
State Immigration enforcement chief Ahmad Puat Abd Hamid, who led the raiding team, said each session would cost several hundred ringgit.
"During the raid, the owner of the outlet noticed the Immigration team on closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras and immediately sounded the alarm. This was to warn the women to escape through the back door to avoid arrest," he said.
Puat said quick action by Immigration officers thwarted the women's attempts to escape.
"Many of the women hid inside toilets while others locked themselves inside the massage rooms with their customers. Their efforts failed when the personnel asked the outlet owner to hand over the keys to the rooms.
"As a result, 21 women, all foreign nationals, aged between 18 and 40, were arrested with several of their customers."
Puat said checks conducted on their passports showed the women were from Thailand, Vietnam, China, Indonesia and Mynamar.
"All of them had abused their social visit passes to work as 'guest relation officers'. They have all been detained for further investigation," he said.
Immigration Department director Ahmed Syam Che Kub @ Ab Rasid was also present during the operation.
