PETALING JAYA: A medical equipment factory in Senai, Johor, was raided by the immigration department last Thursday for illegally hiring foreign nationals.
Johor immigration director Rusdi Darus said the operation followed several weeks of surveillance on employers suspected of hiring undocumented foreign workers to cut labour costs, Bernama reported.
“The operation, which began at 7am, followed intelligence gathering after the department received public complaints about the factory,” he said in a statement today.
He added that a local man working as a human resources officer at the factory was also detained to assist in the investigation.
The immigration raid, under Op Mahir, led to the arrest of 117 foreign nationals who had been working without valid documents.
“Those detained comprised 47 Myanmar men, five Bangladeshi men and 65 Myanmar women, all aged between 19 and 52.
“Inspections found that they failed to produce valid travel documents and work passes, and are believed to have been employed without proper authorisation,” Rusdi was quoted as saying.
All detainees have been placed at the Setia Tropika immigration depot for further investigation under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963.
