SUNGAI PETANI: A total of 16 foreigners were detained at four separate locations by the Kedah Immigration Department here yesterday for committing various offences.
Its director Zuhair Jamaludin said the individuals were detained after the department conducted checks at two business premises, a construction site and a massage parlour.
"We checked 293 foreigners of various nationalities and we found that 16 of them committed various offences under the Immigration Act.
"Among those detained was one Bangladeshi, five men and four women from Indonesia, two Pakistanis and four Thai women," he said, adding that they were aged between 21 and 43.
Zuhair said initial investigations showed that they committed offences under Section 6(1) of the Immigration Act 1969/63, Section 15(1)(c) of the same Act, and Rule 39(b) Immigration Regulations 1963.
The offences include failure to possess valid travel documents, overstaying in the country, and violating the terms of their passes.
"They are currently detained at the Immigration Department lockup at the Home Ministry building in Alor Star to facilitate investigations.
"They will later be transferred to the Belantik Immigration Depot in Sik," he said.
He said the operation to round up the foreigners began at 10.30am and ended at 7pm, involving 15 officers from the Kedah Immigration Department's enforcement division.
