35 Foreign GROs Detained In Immigration Raid On Entertainment Outlet

Barnama

3 days ago

REGION - NORTHERN > NEWS
BUTTERWORTH, Aug 7 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM) foiled an attempt by 35 guest relations officers (GROs) to evade detection after uncovering their hiding spot in a concealed room at an entertainment outlet here early this morning.
JIM Enforcement Division director Basri Osman said the women, aged between 23 and 45, comprising 19 from Vietnam, 14 from Thailand, and one each from China and Laos, were found crammed into a tight hiding space.
He said two male Chinese nationals who were at the premises were also detained, while 73 local men, believed to be customers, were inspected during the operation.
bootstrap slideshow
'Checks revealed that the premises had 10 rooms, each with a hidden space behind the sofa and speakers, as well as a secret room in the toilet.
'All access to the premises on the seventh floor, including the lift, had been disabled in an attempt to foil the raid, forcing us to break down the door to gain entry,' he told reporters today.
Basri said the premises, which had been operating for over a year, was under tight surveillance with closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, and it was believed that 'tonto' (informants) at the location had alerted the operator to the raid.
He said preliminary investigations revealed that the GROs were paid between RM250 and RM300 per hour, and a large sum of cash, believed to be payments made to them, was also discovered at the premises.
Basri said the case was being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/1963, and all those detained were taken to the Seberang Jaya Immigration Office for further investigation before being sent to the Jawi Immigration Detention Depot.
The operation, which began at 12.30 am and ended at 2.30 am, involved 45 personnel from the Immigration headquarters, as well as officers from Perak and Penang.