PETALING JAYA, May 23 — An illegal immigrant hoping to avoid arrest by claiming to be a local during a raid on an apartment complex in Bandar Sunway here was exposed after failing to sing the national anthem, Negaraku.
The male suspect, in his 30s, was among 597 illegal immigrants detained for various immigration offences during checks on 1,597 foreigners in a raid that began at 9pm.
Immigration deputy director-general (Operations) Jafri Embok Taha said the large-scale operation involved 139 Immigration personnel, assisted by 200 members of the General Operations Force, 40 Petaling Jaya Municipal Council personnel, six National Registration Department officers and five from the Civil Defence Force.
“All those detained, comprising 472 males and 125 females, are aged between 11 and 59,” he told reporters after the operation.
He said the raid was carried out following two weeks of intelligence gathering after receiving public complaints about foreigners living in the area.
Apart from pretending to be locals, some foreigners detained during the raid risked their lives by attempting to jump from the fifth floor but were stopped by officers on duty.
Jafri said among the offences detected were no identification documents, overstaying, holding unrecognised cards, and other violations of the Immigration Act 1959/63, the Passport Act 1966, and the Immigration Regulations 1963.
He added that all those detained were taken to the Immigration Detention Depot in Semenyih for further investigation.
Jafri said initial investigations revealed that some locals had rented out their units in the apartment to illegal immigrants.
“It is learnt that the rental rate for a house ranges from RM1,100 to RM1,300, while some houses have been modified with partitions and rented out at RM280 per room,” he said.
— Bernama
