NRD NABS 31 UNDERAGE WORKERS USING OTHER PEOPLE'S ID CARDS

JOHOR BAHRU, Nov 17 (Bernama) -- Thirty-one minors were detained on suspicion of working part-time using other people's identity cards at a box factory in Johor Technology Park, Senai, here today.

Putrajaya National Registration Department (NRD) Investigation and Enforcement Division director Mohammad Khairu Farhan Md Saad said the 16 boys and 15 girls were found using identity cards belonging to others, including family members, to gain employment.

He said some had dropped out of school at 12 years old, while others, who are still attending school, claimed they were working at the factory during school holidays.

"The detainees are all under 18, with the youngest being just 14 years old," he said at a press conference here today.

He added that these minors were among 117 individuals, including 86 foreign nationals, detained at the factory during Ops Kotak, a joint operation between NRD and the Johor Immigration Department.

He said the operation involved 56 enforcement officers from the NRD in Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka, as well as 30 officers from the Immigration Department. 

He confirmed that all 86 foreign nationals, comprising 67 women and 19 men from Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries, were using fraudulent identity documents, believed to have been sourced from agents in their home countries.

The detainees were taken to the NRD office at the Ministry of Home Affairs Complex here for further action.

The case will be investigated under Regulation 25(1)(e) of the National Registration Regulations 1990 (Amendment 2007).

-- BERNAMA