IPOH: The attempt of 10 foreign guest relations officers (GROs) to hide in a secret room in a nightspot here failed when a team from the Perak Immigration Department (JIM) successfully located them.
Thanks to the efficiency of surveillance and inspection by the authorities, all the Vietnamese women were found in a weakened and sweaty state after hiding for nearly an hour in the secret room.
Perak JIM director Meor Hezbullah Meor Abd Malik said that the inspection also revealed that the secret room lacked proper ventilation and used a remote-controlled automated door, but the enforcement team managed to breach it.
“The operation targeted four business and two residential premises around Ipoh city, starting at 8.30 pm and ending around 12.30 am, with a team of 20 officers and personnel.
“Inspections were conducted on 79 foreigners from various nationalities. As a result, 42 foreigners were detained for suspected violations under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963,“ he said in a statement today.
Meor Hezbullah said those detained included 18 Indonesians, among them two women and a boy, 15 Vietnamese women, seven Thai women, and two Myanmar men, all aged between two and 50 years.
He added that all the foreigners detained sent to the Ipoh Immigration Depot for investigation for offences under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Section 15(1)(c) of the same act.
