By Olivia Miwil - February 17, 2021 @ 8:17pm
LAHAD DATU: The Sabah Immigration Department has detained 28 illegal immigrants and a Malaysian lorry driver attempting to smuggle the undocumented foreigners into Indonesia.
Its director Datuk Dr Muhamad Sade Mohamad Amin said the arrests were made during an integrated operation here two days ago.
The operation was to tackle cases of the smuggling of illegal immigrants.
"Prior to the arrest, Lahad Datu Immigration enforcement officers had been trailing the lorry from Jalan Asam, Lahad Datu until a roadblock at Km38 Jalan Lahad Datu.
"The roadblock was made in collaboration with police who helped to stop the lorry," Sade said in a statement.
The operation was led by state Immigration Department deputy senior assistant director Wang Poo Ching.
The 29-year-old driver was detained under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 while the foreigners, all Indonesians aged between 5 and 55 were detained for various immigration violations.
Their offences include entering Malaysia without proper passports or passes, and overstaying, among other things.
Sade said all the detainees are being quarantined and placed at a transit centre at the Tun Datu Mustapha hall, here, pending further investigations.
He urged foreigners to surrender themselves to the department if they had violated immigration offences, instead of choosing illegal methods to get out of the country.
"Malaysians who are involved in such (illegal) activities will also face legal action. The department would like to thank the public for providing information on human smuggling and trafficking activities."
Comments
Post a Comment