Immigration Dept Detains 13 Foreigners In Sepang For Passport, Visit Pass Violations

PUTRAJAYA, June 10 (Bernama) -- The Immigration Department detained 13 foreign nationals yesterday for allegedly operating businesses and misusing their Social Visit Passes by working at several premises in Sepang, Selangor.

Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the arrests were made by the department's Putrajaya Enforcement Division during an operation at 10.20 am, involving 10 Indonesian nationals comprising eight men and two women as wll as three Bangladeshi men.

He said all the individuals were detained after checks at six business premises, including grocery stores and mini-markets.

"All those detained are suspected of running business activities and abusing their Social Visit Passes by working at the premises.

"Our operations do not only target business premises suspected of being owned by foreigners, but also offences related to the misuse of passes by foreign nationals," he said in a statement today.

Zakaria said most of the businesses used licences registered under the names of Malaysian citizens but were operated entirely by foreigners.

"This includes online payments made via QR codes into bank accounts suspected of belonging to foreign nationals.

"Several premises were also found to be selling products and goods specifically catered to foreign customers, particularly Bangladeshi nationals," he said.

He said all the foreign nationals have been detained at the Putrajaya Immigration Depot under Section 51(5)(b) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for further investigation.

They are suspected of committing offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63, the Passports Act 1966 and the Immigration Regulations 1963.

Zakaria added that the department will continue to take stringent action against any parties found committing offences under these laws, and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 (ATIPSOM).

-- BERNAMA