PUTRAJAYA: The Immigration Department arrested 49 foreigners and a local woman in a raid at an electronic scrap recycling factory in the North Klang Straits Industrial Area, Port Klang on Tuesday.
It includes 23 Bangladeshi men, 17 Myanmar men, one Nepali and Chinese man each, five Myanmar women and one Vietnamese and Chinese woman each aged between 20 and 46.
Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said the raid was carried out at about 2.50 pm as a result of public complaints and intelligence for two weeks on the premises suspected to be guarded by the local woman.
"The results of the initial inspection found that six Bangladeshi men had misused their Temporary Employment Visit Passes (PLKS) and were working at the location during the raid. Two Bangladeshi men had overstayed while the other foreigners did not have any valid travel documents or passports to be in the country," he said in a statement on Thursday (Aug 1).
He said the operation team also confiscated council licences, company documents, Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) certificate, business records, 10 Bangladeshi Passports, three Myanmar Passports, two mobile phones, a set of computers, 22 time recorder cards and RM2,900 in cash.
The factory's modus operandi is to process scrap electronic items such as cables and wires to obtain copper and aluminum brought in from various countries through Port Klang.
The scraps that have been processed will be resold in bulk in the local and overseas markets. The factory is also suspected of employing foreigners and providing accommodation in the factory and has been operating for six months.
Ruslin said that during the raid, there were foreign workers who tried to escape and hide in the vast factory area, making the operation difficult, but they were successfully nabbed by Immigration personnel.
All the foreigners were detained on suspicion of having committed an offence under the Immigration Act 1959/63, the Passport Act 1966 and the Immigration Regulations 1963. They are being detained at the Machap Umboo Immigration Depot, Melaka for investigation while the Malaysian woman was detained on suspicion of committing an offence under Section 56 ( 1)(d) Immigration Act 1959/63.
"This factory is also believed to have committed an offence under Section 18, Section 19 and Section 34A of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 and following that a Malaysian man and two Chinese men were given a notice to appear at the office to assist in the investigation," said Ruslin. - Bernama
