Ops Benteng: 120 illegal immigrants nabbed

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said those arrested were caught entering the country via illegal means and for not possessing valid travel documents.

“Op Benteng is a joint effort by the Malaysian Armed Forces, the police, Maritime Malaysia, Immigration Department, Customs and the Malaysian Border Security Agency (AKSEM) to curb trans-border crime and the spread of COVID-19,” he said in a statement today.

On Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) violations, he said 68 individuals were arrested yesterday for flouting standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Of those, 66 individuals were slapped with compounds while two were remanded.

“They include not adhering to RMCO directives (21), not wearing face masks (18), failing to settle quarantine fees (3) and immigration offences (2),” he said.

On mandatory quarantine from July 24 until yesterday, Ismail Sabri said a total of 24,438 individuals have returned home from 32 countries.

They had returned from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Qatar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, India, UAE, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, Iran, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Timor Leste, Taiwan, China, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Egypt, Spain, France, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Of that number, 9,737 individuals are undergoing mandatory quarantine, 71 were sent to hospitals for treatment while 19,630 had been discharged, he added.

He said those under quarantine were placed at 72 hotels and eight other premises, including four Public Training Institutes as well as higher education institutions throughout the country.