KUALA LUMPUR: A three-star hotel on Jalan Ipoh was found to be operating as a brothel offering foreign prostitutes after a raid by the Immigration Department.
The department’s Special Intelligence and Operations Division director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said 36 foreigners aged between 19 and 61 were detained during the raid on Friday (Sept 5) night.
“Those arrested included two Myanmar men, one Indian man, one Indonesian man, 17 Indonesian women, nine Thai women, six Vietnamese women, and one woman from Laos.
Preliminary checks revealed that some had overstayed their visas or misused their entry passes, while others had no valid travel documents,” he said in a statement on Sunday (Sept 7).
Various items were seized, including six Thai passports, three Vietnamese passports, and three Indonesian passports.
Investigations revealed that the hotel had been operating as a prostitution hub since September last year, Zakaria said.
“Clients could select women through WhatsApp or by walking in, with rates ranging from RM250 to RM400 per hour.
All detainees have been taken to department headquarters in Putrajaya. Seven local men were also issued notices to assist with the investigation,” he said.
In another operation on Saturday (Sept 6), Zakaria said the department raided an entertainment outlet run by Myanmar nationals in Nilai, Negri Sembilan.
A total of 21 women from Myanmar aged between 25 and 40 were detained.
“One of them is believed to be the ‘caretaker’ of the premises while the others were suspected to be working as hostesses,” he said.
Investigations showed that the entertainment outlet operated only on weekends and catered exclusively to Myanmar customers.
“For entry, patrons were required to purchase liquor, after which they could hire hostesses at rates between RM150 and RM200. The business had reportedly been running for the past three months.
Officers seized transaction records and seven mobile phones during the raid,” he added.
Those detained have been brought to Putrajaya for further action, while five Myanmar men and one woman were issued notices to aid the investigation.
Zakaria said the department will continue to strengthen enforcement to curb the entry and presence of undocumented migrants.
