The Malaysian immigration department (JIM) on Tuesday night arrested 770 undocumented migrants, including 377 Bangladeshis, in a raid at gambling spots at Jalan Bedara in Bukit Bintang of Kuala Lumpur, reports Malaysian news portal Bernama.
According to the report, shocked by the raid, many tried to escape by climbing buildings, hiding under tables and in business premises but all were arrested.
JIM Enforcement Division director Basri Othman told the local media that the operation was carried out from 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm local time after receiving complaints from the public over the past three weeks.
He further said that the local people were uncomfortable with the presence of the foreigners who gathered in the area for their social activities.
“More surprisingly, the enforcement officers also found an online gambling premises equipped with a close-circuit camera (CCTV) monitoring system,” Basri Othman said.
The JIM Enforcement Division director also informed the local media that the 106 enforcement officers managed to conduct checks on 2,445 individuals, namely 1600 foreigners and 845 locals.
Of the 770 foreigners, 377 are Bangladeshi men, 235 Myanmar men, 72 Nepalese men, 58 Indian men, 17 Indonesian men and two women and three men and six women from other countries, the Bernama report added.
“All the detainees aged between 21 and 65 were taken to JIM Putrajaya for initial screening before being placed at the Bukit jail and Lenggeng immigration depots for further investigation,” Basri Othman added.