The Immigration Department of Malaysia (JIM) has detained 630 foreign nationals in a large-scale operation at a car battery factory construction site in Padang Meha, Kulim, Kedah, yesterday.
The detainees comprised 396 Chinese nationals, 199 Bangladeshis, 10 Pakistanis, seven Myanmar nationals, five Indians, four Ghanaians, three Nigerians, two Kenyans, two Indonesians, and one national each from New Zealand and Senegal.
They were aged between 18 and 50 and were detained after immigration officers inspected 697 individuals during Ops Mega, which began at about 11am.
Kedah Immigration Department director Mohd Ridzzuan Mohd Zain said the operation involved 159 officers from JIM’s headquarters enforcement division, the Special Tactical Team (Pastak), and immigration departments in Kedah, Perlis, Perak, Kuala Lumpur and Negeri Sembilan.
He described the operation as the largest number of arrests at a single location in the past 10 years.
“Some of the arrests that caught our attention involved nationals from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal and New Zealand, who are rarely encountered working at construction sites. We also detained a Chinese national carrying an official passport, whose status is still under investigation,” he said during a press conference at the Home Ministry’s main hall today.
Mohd Ridzzuan said the suspected offences included failing to possess valid travel documents, overstaying and misusing work passes or permits.
Some foreign nationals were believed to have entered Malaysia using social visit passes before taking up jobs at the construction site. Others were suspected of working at locations or for employers not authorised under their permits.
He added that all seized passports and documents would undergo detailed checks to verify their authenticity before further action was taken.
Six witness summonses were also issued to assist the investigation, including to employers or company representatives who were present during the raid.
Mohd Ridzzuan said the operation faced several challenges, with some foreign nationals allegedly attempting to flee by hiding in dangerous areas, including climbing onto the roofs of unfinished buildings.
Provocative behaviour by a group of individuals also contributed to tensions during the operation.
The raid covered an area of nearly 500,000 square metres and posed significant safety challenges, particularly after rain left access routes slippery and muddy. Officers also had to navigate lift shafts, exposed steel reinforcement bars and moving heavy machinery.
He added that the construction site had previously been raided by JIM last year, when about 100 foreign nationals were detained during the first phase of construction.
