IMMIGRATION DEPT RAIDS PETALING STREET, NABS 34 FOREIGNERS

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 10 (Bernama) -- Petaling Street, a hotspot for the sale of counterfeit goods involving foreign nationals, was once again raided by the Immigration Department through the 'KL Strike Force' operation this afternoon.

Kuala Lumpur Immigration director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff said that during the more than one-hour operation, 77 foreign nationals were inspected. Out of this number, 34 were arrested, some for lacking identification documents or for not having valid immigration passes.

He said they arrested 26 Bangladeshis, four Myanmar nationals, two Pakistanis, and one each from Mauritius and Nepal, aged between 22 and 55 years old.

"The most common offence was the misuse of passes. They held valid temporary work visit passes and work permits but were not at their designated locations or with their actual employers," he told reporters on site today.

Wan Mohammed Saupee added that most of those who misused their passes were holders of construction passes, cleaning and washing sector passes, and other similar sector permits.

He added that inspections were also carried out at premises employing these foreign nationals, and four local business owners were issued fines and required to report to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Office for further investigation.

-- BERNAMA