PUTRAJAYA, Sept 7 — The Immigration Department detained 37 foreign nationals during a raid on a hotel used as a prostitution centre in the federal capital late Friday night.
Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said those detained comprised 18 Indonesians including one man, nine Thai women, six Vietnamese women, two Myanmar men, as well as one man and one woman each from Laos and India, aged between 19 and 61.
He said initial checks found that six Thai women, three Vietnamese women, two Indonesian women and one Laotian woman had misused their passes, while the Indonesian man was found to have overstayed.
“Meanwhile, two Myanmar men, one Indian man, 15 Indonesian women, and three women each from Vietnam and Thailand did not possess valid travel documents,” he said in a statement today.
Following the raid, the operations team seized copies of employment agreements and 13 passports belonging to the detainees.
Zakaria said the syndicate’s modus operandi involved using a three-star hotel as a prostitution centre for foreign women.
“Customers could select women through WhatsApp or by walking in. The rates charged ranged from RM250 to RM400 per hour and the operation is believed to have been active since September last year,” he said.
All detainees were taken to the Putrajaya Immigration Office for further action, while seven local men were issued notices to assist with the investigation.
In a separate operation yesterday, the department detained 21 Myanmar women at an entertainment outlet in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, for various immigration offences.
Zakaria said the detainees, aged between 25 and 40, included a woman suspected to be the caretaker and 20 others believed to be working as guest relation officers (GROs).
He said the team also seized a transaction logbook and seven mobile phones during the raid.
“The outlet, run by Myanmar nationals, operated only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, catering exclusively to Myanmar patrons. Customers were required to buy alcoholic beverages upon entry and were offered GRO services at rates of RM150 to RM200 each,” he said.
The outlet is believed to have been operating for three months, and initial checks revealed that eight of the women had overstayed, while 13 others had no valid travel documents.
All detainees were taken to the Putrajaya Immigration Office for further action, while five Myanmar men and one woman were served notices to appear to assist in investigations. — Bernama
