A total of 137 illegal immigrants of various nationalities, including 19 Bangladeshis were detained in Malaysia.
They were arrested in an operation at a construction site in Johor Baru, the capital city of the Malaysian state of Johor, on Friday.
Director Baharuddin Tahir said that the operation was carried out in Jaya Putra here at around 12.38 am hours of Friday morning.
Johor Immigration Department carried out the operation following public information about the presence of many immigrants in the area.
“In the operation, these immigrants were living inside 12 ‘rumah kongsi,’ which have more than 200 rooms that were inspected by our enforcement personnel,” he was quoted as saying in a statement on Friday.
Baharuddin was cited as adding some 219 immigrants and one local were inspected where 137 of them have committed offences under various immigration offences.