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Vietnamese women among dozens nabbed in Malaysian police raids

TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 01/15/2017 09:59 GMT + 7

Nearly 50 Vietnamese women were among dozens arrested in a series of raids by Malaysian authorities at four entertainment venues in the southern state of Johor late Friday, local newspaper New Straits Times reported yesterday.

One Vietnamese woman believed to have been a victim of human trafficking was also rescued by Malaysian officers during the raids, the paper said.

Malaysia’s National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team (NRRET), Johor police and officers from other relevant departments conducted the raids, which lasted from midnight Friday to 9:00 am Saturday, the Malaysian paper cited Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat, chief of the Johor Criminal Investigation Department.

Among those arrested in the first raid were 34 Vietnamese women, 20 Chinese women and two Indonesian women, aged 19 to 34, who were believed to have been working as guest relations officers (GROs), according to Kamarul Zaman.

Also detained were four Nepalese men and two Myanmar nationals, aged 22 to 37, who lacked valid documents, and seven locals who were working as cashiers and security guards, the chief said.

Six out of the seven arrested locals were on the Malaysian police’s list of Wanted Persons, he added.

Ten foreign women, aged 17 to 30, reported to have been forced to work as hostesses, were also rescued during the raid.

In another raid, police captured two men, 13 Vietnamese GROs and one Chinese woman, while rescuing a Vietnamese woman believed to have been a victim of human trafficking.

Among those nabbed in the raids were six Malaysian civil servants, two of whom tested positive for ecstasy, the New Straits Times wrote.

Those arrested will be investigated under Malaysian laws, the paper reported.