SANDAKAN: The Sabah Immigration Department arrested 12 illegal immigrants in a raid on an entertainment outlet here on Friday.
State director Sh Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said the identification of 40 people was inspected in the 11.25pm raid, called Op Gegar.
"Twelve of them were detained - six men and five women from the Philippines and one Indonesian man.
"All of them are suspected to have committed an offence under Section 6(1)(c) of Immigaration Act 1959/63," she said in a statement, adding that the detainees were aged between 17 and 32.
The authorities also detained a 48-year-old Malaysian, believed to be the operator of the entertainment outlet in Bandar Indah here.
She said the man would be investigated under Section 55B of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for recruiting foreign workers that do not have valid passes.
The employer will also be investigated under Section 55E (1) of the same Act for allowing illegal immigrants to be in the premises.