25 foreign nationals held in Prai

BUTTERWORTH: Some 25 foreigners, including three women, were arrested in an integrated operation by the Immigration Department and several other agencies at Flat Taman Pelangi, Prai here on Friday.
Penang Immigration Department Enforcement Division head Khwaja Banthey Navaz Mohamed Haneef said in the operation conducted from 6pm to 10pm, inspections were also carried out at the night market and several shops in the area around the flats.
"During the operation, enforcement officers posed as customers before detaining 20 foreign men working in various stalls at the night market," he said here today.
He said five more foreigners, including the three women, were arrested while inspecting two grocery stores and a food and beverage outlet in the same area.
Khwaja Banthey Navaz said those arrested were 18 Bangladeshi men, three Indonesian women, two Myanmar men and a Vietnamese man and a Nepali man, all aged 25 to 42 years.
According to him, all those arrested did not have valid travel documents, were overstaying or abusing their social visit passes. All of them were taken to the state Immigration Department to be documented before being sent to the Juru Detention Depot for further investigation. — Bernama