Malaysian immigration officials have arrested 59 foreign nationals following raids on eight business premises in Selangor, a day after a Nigerian man reportedly attacked a police officer with two machetes, severing his right hand before he was shot dead.
The Immigration Department disclosed that the arrests followed two weeks of intelligence gathering and complaints alleging that some foreigners were using business premises as accommodation and hiding places to avoid detection by authorities.
The enforcement operation commenced at 1pm on Thursday, November 12, with 17 immigration officers taking part.
According to the department’s Director-General, Datuk Zakaria Shaaban, a total of 152 individuals were screened during the exercise, including 75 Malaysians and 77 foreign nationals.
Of the 77 foreigners screened, 59, comprising 53 men and six women, were arrested over suspected violations of immigration laws.
The alleged offences included failure to produce valid travel documents, overstaying and the misuse of immigration passes.
The department said those arrested had been moved to detention facilities for further investigations under Malaysia’s Immigration Act 1959/63 and Immigration Regulations 1963.
However, the authorities did not reveal the nationalities of the detainees.
The raids took place a day after a Nigerian man allegedly attacked Malaysian police officers and other emergency responders with two machetes in Desa Aman Puri, Kepong, on Wednesday, November 11.
Malaysian news agency Bernama reported that the incident occurred after police received a distress report at about 4pm concerning a man allegedly behaving aggressively at a residential property.
