PUTRAJAYA IMMIGRATION BREAKS UP PROSTITUTION RING WITH FOREIGN OFFERINGS

PUTRAJAYA, May 5 (Bernama) -- The Immigration Department (JIM) detained 16 people, including two local men, in a special operation at two separate locations yesterday, for allegedly being involved in offering prostitution services involving foreign women.

JIM deputy director-general (management) Ismail Mokhtar said all the individuals, aged between 19 and 61, were detained around Pandan Perdana in Kuala Lumpur and Seri Kembangan in Selangor.

"The modus operandi used involved offering prostitution services by foreign women by advertising their services on social media to attract customers.

"Customers between RM250 and RM1,200 per session, with payment transactions conducted either in cash or online," he said in a statement today.

He added that the operation began at 7.15 pm, involving a team of personnel from the Intelligence and Special Operations Division of the Immigration Department Headquarters in Putrajaya.

Acting on public information and intelligence gathered over two weeks, the team was deployed to stake out business and residential premises and successfully apprehended two Malaysian men believed to be caretakers of the premises.

"Also detained were two Vietnamese men, seven Vietnamese women, four Indonesian women and one Laotian woman," he said.

Ismail said initial checks found that one Vietnamese woman and one Laotian woman possessed valid Social Visit Passes; two Vietnamese men had overstayed, while the other foreign nationals did not possess any valid travel documents or passes for staying in the country.

He added that the team also seized 19 mobile phones, five Vietnamese passports, one Laotian passport, a work record book and a business transaction ledger.

All the detained foreign nationals, suspected of violating the Immigration Act 1959/63 and the Immigration Regulations 1963, were taken to the Putrajaya Immigration Depot.

-- BERNAMA