GOF arrests 18 foreigners in two-day Op Benteng Covid-19

The five foreign nationals that were arrested in Lundu who were then asked to turn back to their own country.

KUCHING (Feb 2): The General Operations Force (GOF) continues to enforce the ‘Op Benteng Covid-19’ by arresting 18 foreign nationals for trying to enter the country without any valid travelling documents.

GOF Sarawak Commander SAC Mancha Ata said the foreigners were detained in five operations that were conducted between Jan 30 and 31,

According to him, three men comprising two locals and a foreigner, were also arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle illegal immigrations into the country.

“The first case was on Jan 30 at around 7pm, where our team had detained a car along Jalan Serian-Sri Aman and found four foreigners inside the vehicle.

“Further checks found that only the driver had valid documents whereas the three others failed to produce any valid documents,” he said in a statement today.

On the same day, Mancha said his men arrested five foreigners at Kampung Pasir Tengah in Lundu at around 3.30pm after they were found hiding in a house that was suspected to be their transit point.

“Further checks found that all of them had entered the country through an illegal route. They were then asked to return to their own country,” he added.

The three foreign nationals who were arrested in Bau who were then asked to turn back to their own country.

Mancha said two foreign national were also arrested on the same day in Tebedu, Serian after they were found to have acted suspiciously by the patrolling team.

“Further checks on them found that both are illegal foreigners and were asked to turn back to their own country via ICQS Tebedu,” he added.

On Jan 31, Mancha said his men had detained a vehicle in Tebedu, Serian around 9am.

“Checks found that the driver and one of the passengers were locals whereas four others including three women were foreigners.”

He said both of the local suspects are being investigated under Section 15 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act (ATIPSOM) 2007.

“As for the foreign nationals, they were detained under the Immigration Act 1959 and Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988,” he said.

On the same day, Mancha said his men had detained three foreign nationals at around 6.40pm in a house in Bau that was suspected to have been used as a transit house.

“Further checks on the men found that they did not possess any valid travelling documents to enter the country. They were asked to go back to their own country,” he added.

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