15 illegals nabbed, 93 illegal houses destroyed
LAHAD DATU: The Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) nabbed 15 illegal immigrants and destroyed 93 houses that were built on government reserve land during a special integrated operation launched at six separated villages at Felda Sahabat on Thursday.
ESSCom commander DCP Dato’ Wan Abd Bari Wan Abd Khalid in a statement yesterday said the operations were conducted at Kampung Tambisan, Kampung Long Patau, Kampung Lok Buani, Kampung Tanjung Labian Darat, Kampung Tanjung Batu and Kampung Tanjung Tegupi Laut.
The operation involved 530 officers and members of ESSCom, the police, Malaysian Armed Forces, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Road Transport Department, District Council, District Office and Immigration Department.
“A total of 450 individuals were inspected during the operation and 62 of them were taken to a documentation centre for screening.
“All the individuals, aged between 16 and 49, from the Philippines, were detained for failing to produce valid identification documents,” he said.
Bari said those detained would be investigated under Section 6(1)(C) of the Immigration Act 1959/1961 before taking them to a temporary detention centre for deportation to their country of origin.
Meanwhile, during the operation they also nabbed two foreigners who tested positive for drug abuse. The suspects were handed to the police for investigation under the Dangerous Drug Act 1952.
During the operation, a total of 93 houses, which were built illegally on government reserve land, were destroyed by the District Council.
The houses were emptied of illegals during the previous operation.
Wan said a notice was issued in January 2016 for the villagers to empty the area. However, the notice was ignored by villagers.
“This operation is not only to clean out the illegal immigrants but to trace and prevent any criminal or militant activities such as Abu Sayaf and Daesh from making this area as a base following the drastic action by the Philippine government to enforce martial law in southern Philippines.
“ESSCom will take proactive measures, including tightening security and launching continuous operations as well as cooperating with the Philippine security forces in terms of intelligence to monitor the situation in the Philippines,” he added.