Johor police detained 209 foreign guest relations officers and 13 caretakers across 12 entertainment outlets during early morning Op Noda raids.
JOHOR BAHRU: Police arrested a total of 209 foreign women working as Guest Relations Officers (GROs) during “Op Noda” operations conducted across 12 entertainment centers throughout the state early this morning.
Johor Police Chief Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad (pic) said that the joint operation was launched by the Johor Contingent Police Headquarters (IPK) alongside District Police Headquarters (IPD), running from 2:15 am to 9:00 am.
He said that 13 entertainment center premises caretakers, aged between 20 and 53 years old, were also detained, comprising 10 local men and three foreign men.
“A total of 209 foreign GROs aged between 19 and 40 years old were detained, comprising 93 Vietnamese nationals, Thailand (87), Laos (11), Indonesia (7), Myanmar (6), and the Philippines (5),” he said in a statement today.
Ab Rahaman noted that preliminary urine screening tests conducted on all the individuals found that 44 of them tested positive for drugs.
A check of past records revealed that seven of them have various past criminal and narcotics records.
He stated that the cases are being investigated under Section 11(2) of the Johor State Entertainment and Places of Entertainment Enactment (ENJ) 4/98, Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, Section 15(1)(c) 1959/63, Section 55B 1959/63, Section 55E 1959/63, as well as Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1959/63.
Ab Rahaman emphasised that authorities will not compromise and remain fully committed to addressing security and public order issues, stressing that premises violating license conditions will face stern action, including the revocation of their licenses.
He also urged members of the public with information regarding criminal activities to channel it directly to the Johor Police Hotline at 019-2792095 or the Operations Room at 07-2212999.
