Two foreigners were detained hiding in a trench in Kuching

The cooking, Sept. 22:

An attempt by a man and a woman of foreign origin to escape by hiding in the trenches failed when they were tracked down and detained by members of Sarawak's Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM) through Ops Selera and Ops Kutip.

The operation, which ran from 10 a.m. to midnight last night, involved searches at seven locations around Westfield Points, Tun Hussein Onn Street, Pekan Batu 10 and Sentosa City.

The location involved a restaurant premises and shops suspected of engaging in online gambling activities.

According to a statement by JIM Sarawak, during the operation several escape attempts were also detected, including the actions of two foreigners who chose the slope as their hiding place.

"However, the attempt failed when operatives managed to locate their positions before they were both detained for further action.

"In total, 48 individuals were interrogated and 43 arrested, while one witness indictment was also issued", the statement said.

The operation was carried out on the basis of public complaint information and JIM Kuching's search results.

All those detained were suspected of committing offences under Section 15 (a) (1) (c) and Section 6 (b) (1) (c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 (Act 155) and brought for further investigation.

JIM Sarawak will continue the risk-based enforcement operation to ensure compliance with immigration laws. -TVS