Thirty-one minors were detained for allegedly working part-time using other people’s identity cards at a box factory in Johor Technology Park, Senai.
According to Putrajaya National Registration Department (NRD) Investigation and Enforcement Division director Mohammad Khairu Farhan Md Saad, the group comprised 16 boys and 15 girls, all under 18, with the youngest aged just 14.
He said the minors were using identity cards belonging to others, including family members, to secure employment. Some had dropped out of school at the age of 12, while others claimed they only worked at the factory during school holidays.
Their detention was part of Ops Kotak, a joint enforcement operation between NRD and the Johor Immigration Department, during which a total of 117 individuals were detained, including 86 foreign nationals.
Khairu Farhan added that the 86 foreigners — 67 women and 19 men from Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries — were found using fake identification believed to have been obtained from agents in their home countries.
The operation involved 56 NRD enforcement officers from Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka, along with 30 Immigration officers.
All detainees were taken to the NRD office at the Ministry of Home Affairs Complex for further action. The case is being investigated under Regulation 25(1)(e) of the National Registration Regulations 1990 (Amendment 2007).
