258 HELD IN IMMIGRATION RAID
They include four Nigerians who put up a struggle during the operation
IMMIGRATION Department director-general Datuk Mustafar Ali sprung into action when several illegal Nigerian immigrants tried to escape from a raid in Kepong yesterday.
Leading a 150-man team, Mustafar gave the illegals a chase as they attempted to leave the apartment where the operation was conducted.
“Some of our officers were hurt in the process as the burly Nigerian men jostled their way past the raiding team.
“Some of our men were thrown off when they were pushed over by the foreigners.
“The injured staff has been treated.
“Some (of the immigrants) hid in between walls and under a sofa, while some went as far as placing the (heavy) sofa onto their bodies to avoid being caught,” he said after checking the last site of the operation in Bukit Jalil.
He said a workers’ hostel in Bukit Jalil, as well as an apartment in Selayang, were also raided.
He said checks on 468 immigrants were conducted during the operation, of which 258 of them were detained for not having valid travel documents.
In Selayang, he said 185 people were checked and 68 of them were detained.
“Out of the total, 40 of them are Indonesians and the rest are Bangladeshis.
“We also checked 30 immigrants in Kepong and detained nine Nigerians, four Indonesians and one Filipino.
“In Bukit Jalil, we conducted checks on 253 immigrants. A total of 181 were detained, of which 140 are Indonesians, while the remaining are Myanmar nationals (21) and Bangladeshis (20).”
He said the illegal immigrants were being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63, Passport Act 1966 and Immigration Regulations 1963.
He said checks revealed that the passport of most of the foreigners detained had expired.
“Some of them ran away from their employers and worked elsewhere.
“For instance, immigrants whose documents state that they are working in Brickfields but they moved to Selayang.”
He said forged documents were found, which were the work of local syndicates.
“We’re working to cripple such syndicates.