109 foreigners arrested in Ops Gegar raids across Ipoh

IPOH: The Perak Immigration Department arrested 109 foreigners during two separate raids under Ops Gegar, including one at the Ipoh wholesale market early this morning.

Immigration Department deputy director-general (operations) Datuk Lokman Effendi Ramli said those detained were aged between 19 and 59.

He said officers conducted the first raid around Ipoh at 9pm yesterday, while the raid at the Ipoh wholesale market began at 1.30am.

"During the raid, several foreigners attempted to flee. However, due to the efficiency of our enforcement officers and personnel, all of them were caught.

"Those detained comprise 34 women and 75 men from Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, and Bangladesh," he told reporters after the raid at the Ipoh wholesale market.

Lokman Effendi said among the offences detected were lack of valid documents, overstaying, and abusing permits or passes issued to them.

"All detainees were taken to the state Immigration office for documentation and further verification before being sent to an Immigration detention depot," he said.

He said that following the operation, five summonses were also issued to employers and premises owners to assist with further investigations.

The case is being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and Immigration Regulations 1963.

He added that more than 11,000 operations have been conducted since Jan 1, involving checks on nearly 150,000 foreigners.