IPOH: A total of 13 foreign women believed to be working as guest relations officers (GRO) were detained by the Perak Immigration Department at an entertainment outlet in Jalan Datoh here.
Director Kamalludin Ismail said when officers raided the place, the women were nowhere to be seen, and only customers were inside the outlet.
“It took the officers about an hour to find a secret door with the women hiding inside.
However the door was locked from the inside, and another hour went by before a nearby window had to be broken for officers to get in, ” he said in a statement.
A few other raids were also conducted in Batang Padang and Kampar where 35 foreign men and women without valid documents were arrested at a workers quarters, a Tom Yam restaurant and from some shop lots.
Kamalludin said the foreign workers arrested were from Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia and China.
“We also arrested three local men, who are either their employers or those working at the premises. The 35 arrested are aged between 27 and 54, ” he added.
The raids were conducted between 7pm to 5am on Jan 9 and 10.
All the cases are being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63 for entering the country without valid documents, overstaying, and misusing their travel pass to work illegally.