124 immigrants, including Bangladeshis, detained in Kuala Lumpur raid

The Immigration Department has arrested 124 undocumented immigrants in a raid at a wholesale market in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. The arrested include Bangladeshis, as well as citizens of Pakistan, Myanmar, India, Indonesia and Thailand.

However, it was not immediately known how many Bangladeshis were there. The operation took place from 12 pm to 1.45 pm local time on Monday (November 24). The country's director of immigration, Wan Mohammad Sawpi Wan Yusuf, led the operation.

He said that some foreign nationals, sensing the presence of the immigration department, tried to escape quickly using emergency exits and elevators. However, their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. The operation was carried out by officials from the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department, the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), the Kuala Lumpur Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

Wan Mohammad Sop Wan Yusuf added that a total of 205 people were checked in the operation. Of these, 124 were detained for failing to produce valid documents. They are aged between 20 and 59 years old. The

immigration department said that the raid was carried out based on specific allegations such as unlicensed business, misuse of foreign worker passes and presence of illegal immigrants.

Cases have been filed against the detainees under the Malaysian Immigration Act for lack of valid documents and travel passes and overstaying. As part of this coordinated operation, DBKL has issued six different fines for unlicensed businesses and for hiring foreign workers, and has issued a closure notice to one business.

Additionally, KPDN has issued seven price tagging fines totaling RM6,500 to businesses. In addition, they have inspected the documents of 115 businesses and recorded 25 offences, which can result in fines ranging from RM500 to RM30,000.