22 foreign nationals detained in Penang

A spokesman of the Penang JIM said the department carried out checks around Bukit Mertajam, Perai and George Town before detaining all the foreign nationals aged between 25 and 40 years.

"The operation, which began at 3 pm on Thursday until early morning yesterday, was carried out in factory areas, around food stalls, restaurants and houses rented by the foreign nationals.

"They were detained for not having personal travel documents, overstaying, and abusing their social visit passes,"he said here today.

He said those detained comprised 15 Indonesian nationals including eight women, four men (Myanmar), two men (from Bangladesh) and a man (Nepal).

In the operation, two employers of the foreign nationals who were detained were also directed to be present at the Penang Immigration Department for further investigation, he said.

He added that all the foreigners who were detained were taklen to the Penang Immigration Department for documentation before being sent back to the Juru Detention Centre for further investigation.