KUALA LUMPUR: The Immigration Department raided two shoplots here this afternoon, suspected of being used as prostitution dens involving foreign women.
Kuala Lumpur Immigration director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff said the simultaneous raids in Jalan Tun Razak and Jalan Yew at 5 pm were conducted following two weeks of intelligence gathering.
“A total of 10 foreign women from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam were arrested at the premises in Jalan Yew. We also detained five men, including two locals.
“As for the raid at Jalan Tun Razak, four women from Indonesia and Vietnam, along with a local man, were arrested,” he said when contacted.
Wan Mohammed Saupee said that all 20 individuals arrested aged between 30 and 65 years and are being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for lacking valid travel documents, Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1963 for violating permit conditions and Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for overstaying.
Initial investigations revealed that the foreign women were offering sexual services to both local and foreign clients at a rate of RM60 per session.
Bernama reporters who joined the operation at Jalan Yew found that the illicit activities were conducted during ‘office hours’, from 9 am to 5.30 pm, Monday to Friday.
The premises had 19 rooms and were tightly guarded by attendants both inside and outside the premises. Closed-circuit television cameras were also installed to evade detection.
In a separate operation at a printing factory in Kepong, four Indonesian women and one Pakistani man were arrested for suspected immigration violations.
Wan Mohammed Saupee said a local man was also detained for allegedly harbouring foreign nationals without valid passes or permits under Section 56(1)(d) of the Immigration Act.
“Six individuals aged between 30 and 50 were arrested for further investigation,” he said.
