PUTRAJAYA (BERNAMA) – A total of 117 individuals including 85 foreign women working as guest relations officers (GROs) were detained by the Malaysian Immigration Department in a special operation carried out on seven locations in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan and Seri Kembangan, Selangor recently.
Immigration Director-General Datuk Ruslin Jusoh in a statement yesterday said 10 local men, aged between 27 and 63, believed to have been caretakers of the foreign nationals’ vice dens were also arrested.
He said the foreign women detained comprised 48 Vietnamese, 34 Indonesians and three Bangladeshis.
Additionally, he said, also detained were 18 men from Bangladesh, three Vietnamese and one from Nepali, all aged between 15 and 53.
“The Immigration Department successfully busted two foreign prostitution syndicates in a special operation conducted on July 24 and 25,” he said.
“The operation involved officers and members of various ranks from the Intelligence and Special Operations Division, in collaboration with the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants 2007 (ATIPSOM) and Anti-Money Laundering (AMLA) Enforcement Division, the Putrajaya Immigration headquarters and Perak Immigration Department.”
Ruslin said results of the initial review found that the nine Vietnamese women, seven Indonesian women, two Bangladeshi men, and one Nepalese man who were arrested had valid passes, whereas 14 Vietnamese women, five Indonesian women and three Bangladeshi men had overstayed in the country.
He said the other foreign nationals who had been arrested did not possess any valid travel documents or passes to be in the country.
He also said that all the Malaysian men and two Bangladeshi men had been given notices to appear at the Immigration office to assist with the investigation.
Ruslin said his party also confiscated one mobile phone unit, one tablet unit, 23 Vietnamese passports, 12 Indonesian passports, five Bangladeshi passports, one Nepali passport as well as cash amounting to MYR7,055.
