JOHOR BARU: Nine foreigners busy working at a nursery in Iskandar Puteri here were taken aback when Immigration Department officials arrived at the site.

       State director Baharuddin Tahir said the eight men and one woman from Indonesia and Myanmar had overstayed and did not possess valid work permits.He said the suspects, aged 28 to 48, were detained at around 10.40am on Monday.

       “They had failed to produce valid travel documents, which is an offence under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63. They were also detained under Section 15(1)(c) of the same Act for overstaying,” he said in a statement yesterday.

       He added that a local man at the nursery was issued a notice to assist with the department’s investigations.

       Separately, the department detained four men from Bangladesh, two from Myanmar, a Nepali and a Vietnamese. They were detained in Muar and Mersing on Sunday and Monday.

       “We inspected nine premises in Muar and two in Endau, Mersing, where a total of 80 foreigners were checked.

       “The inspection was carried out after we received public information about foreigners who went against the law,” he said, adding that it led to the detention of eight suspects, aged 22 to 38.

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       Baharuddin said the offences include violating the terms of travel passes, failing to produce travel documents and overstaying. He added that the department would continue clamping down on illegal foreign workers to curb the issue.