Singaporean among 85 illegals nabbed in Johor Bahru, Muar raids
UPDATED
NOV 12, 2024, 11:54 AM
JOHOR BAHRU – The Johor Immigration Department has detained 85 illegal immigrants, including a Singaporean man who was working as a waiter at a food stall.
Johor Immigration director Mohd Rusdi Mohd Darus said that the department carried out three separate operations on Nov 8 and Nov 9 in Johor Bahru and Muar respectively.
“In the first case, the department carried out raids at two business premises in Taman Mount Austin at around 1.30am on Nov 9.
“The raids were carried out as we believed that the two premises employed illegal immigrants (and had offered) immoral activities to their patrons,” he said on Nov 11.
Datuk Seri Rusdi added that the raids at the two premises led the department to detain 43 foreigners, as well as three locals, for various offences.
“Early investigations so far found that the premises offered services, where patrons could pay RM50 (S$15) for a guest relation officer (GRO) to join them for drinks. Additionally, customers could pay upwards of RM800 for ‘other services’ from the GRO.
“Among those detained were 38 Thai nationals, including 36 women; three male Myanmar nationals; a male Vietnamese and a male Laos national.
“We also arrested three male Malaysians, who are the premises’ owners and guardian,” he said, adding that those arrested were aged between 19 and 52 years.
In the second case, Mr Rusdi said a Palestinian man and a Singaporean man were among 23 immigrants detained during a raid involving eight premises in Taman Abad at around 8.10pm on Nov 8.
He added that the department carried out the operation following public complaints about the presence of immigrants carrying out businesses without licence or working without proper permits at the location.
“We detained seven Pakistani males; six Indonesians, including three females; three Indian male nationals; four male Bangladeshis; a male Myanmar national; a Singaporean man and a Palestinian man.
“All of them were working at food stalls, including the Singaporean man, who was a waiter, while the Palestinian man cooked shawarma,” he said, adding that those detained were aged between 20 and 53 years.
In the final operation, Mr Rusdi said the department detained 19 illegal immigrants, including three females, at various locations near Muar on Nov 8.
He said those detained were six Bangladeshi nationals, 11 Myanmar nationals, one Indian national male and a female Indonesian, all aged between 23 and 50 years.
“The immigrants that have been detained in the three operations are believed to have committed many immigration offences, including overstaying, misusing temporary working visit passes, misusing social visit passes and not possessing any passes or permits to be in Malaysia,” he said.
Mr Rusdi also said that the department would continue carrying out more operations throughout the state in curbing the presence of illegal immigrants in Johor. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
