Johor bahru: The Immigration Department (JIM) in Johor detained 104 illegal immigrants in Ops Sapu on a squatter area here early this morning. Johor Immigration director Datuk Mohd Rusdi Mohd Darus said the operation, which began at 2 am, involved 121 officers and enforcement personnel of various ranks from the state and branch enforcement divisions, as well as three officers from the National Registration Department (NRD).

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the operation was carried out after a gathering of intelligence and public complaints about the presence of illegal immigrants in the area. During the raid, dozens of foreigners of various nationalities were reported to have been cornered after the area was completely surrounded by enforcement personnel. Those detained consisted of 50 men, three boys, 44 women, and six Indonesian girls, as well as one woman from the Philippines.

The inspection revealed that most of them did not have valid travel documents and had overstayed the period permitted. All the detainees, aged between two months and 63 years, were suspected of committing offences under the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963 before being placed at the Setia Tropika immigration depot for further investigation.