Bukit Aman Stagg team uncovers GROs underground hideouts

IPOH: Bukit Aman police uncovered an underground hideout housing 38 female guest relations officers (GROs) from China and Vietnam in a raid on an entertainment outlet in Medan Ipoh here early today.
Bukit Aman Special Tactical Squad Anti-Vice, Gambling and Gangsterism (Stagg) operations chief Supt Fazlisyam Abdul Majid said the operation which took about seven hours from midnight onwards found two secret underground rooms used as hideouts for women, in their 20s and 30s.
"The premises was closed during the raid and we had to break the door and go in. Realising the presence of the police, eight Vietnamese women and 30 Chinese nationals hid in two underground rooms.
"We sought the help of firefighters to bring out all the women because the rooms had metal doors with a hydraulic system and it takes about four hours to open the doors," he said when met by reporters at the site.
According to him, the rooms were two metres high with an area of 500 square feet and equipped with mattresses, air conditioning, food supply and refreshments.
Fazlisyam said the premises had previously been raided at least seven times but today's raid was the most fruitful.
"This is the first time a raid has been carried out involving people hiding under the ground locked in rooms with doors using a hydraulic system because before this, they (women) just hid in the store, on the walls and on the ceiling.
"This is a sophisticated hideaway and did not rule out the possibility that the construction of the rooms was costly," he said.
In the operation, police also detained 15 employees and 15 customers for further investigation while the owner of the premises will be tracked down soon.
It was found that the premises had been operating exclusively for over two years and charged RM3,000 to RM5,000 for booking a karaoke room.
The operation involved six officers and 16 members of the Bukit Aman Stagg team and seven firefighters from Ipoh, he said. — Bernama