Over 12,800 illegals nabbed; 7,673 deported

PETALING JAYA: Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob (pic) said border enforcement authorities have detained 12,877 undocumented migrants in Sabah since January, 7,673 of whom have been deported.

“There are still 5,204 undocumented migrants in detention centres,” he said during a live-streamed press conference.

Of this number, 4,456 are from the Philippines; 618, from Indonesia; and 130, from other countries such as Bangladesh.

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The Ops Benteng in Sabah involved 3,493 officers, 10 ships and 54 boats, he said, adding that 68 roadblocks were mounted during the operation.

Meanwhile, 37 undocumented migrants were arrested nationwide yesterday, and two vehicles were confiscated.

Authorities mounted 282 roadblocks as part of the border enforcement operations.

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Ismail said police arrested 284 individuals for various offences under the recovery movement control order (RMCO).

Of this number, 278 were fined and six were released on police bail.

Among the offences were failure to wear face masks (134), lack of physical distancing (68), failure to prepare equipment for recording personal details (33) and flouting RMCO SOPs (20).

Sixteen premises were found open beyond the allowed hours.

Three individuals were nabbed for refusing to go for Covid-19 screening, one for attempting to escape a roadblock and another for driving a vehicle with more than one passenger.