LAHAD DATU: Eight teenage girls aged 14 to 18 were rescued by the police in a raid at a factory on Jalan Tungku, Silabukan, here, yesterday.
In the 8.50am operation, known as Op Pintas Mega, all the foreign teenagers involved were suspected of being exploited as forced labour in the factory.
Deputy Superintendent Heryan Mohd Tahir led the operation conducted by the Sabah Contingent Crime Investigation Department (vice, gambling, and organised crime).
Sabah Contingent CID chief, Senior Assistant Commissioner Azmi Abd Rahim, said the raid was also carried out in collaboration with the Lahad Datu district police headquarters' Crime Investigation Division and the Narcotics Crime Investigation Division as well as with the Sabah Labour Department.
He added that the initial investigation found that the factory was believed to be employing child labour and foreign workers without valid identification documents.
"As a result of the raid, police rescued eight foreign teenage girls from the Philippines and Indonesia who were working in the factory.
"Following that, the police arrested the 41-year-old factory manager from Taiwan, along with the supervisor and factory clerk, to assist in the investigation," he said in a statement today.
Azmi added that in the same operation, they also detained 18 foreign workers when they did not have valid identification documents.
He said the detainees consisted of eight men and 10 women aged 17 to 55 from the Philippines and Indonesia.
"All detainees were taken to the Lahad Datu district police headquarters for further investigation under Section 14 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, which deals with trafficking of children for exploitation purposes.
"The case is also being investigated under Section 55B of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for employing workers without valid permits and Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63," he said.
Meanwhile, Azmi said the operation was launched nationwide on Jan 22 to combat human trafficking crimes.
The focus of the operation was to identify victims of human trafficking (child labour exploitation) based on the National Guideline On Human Trafficking Indicators (NGHTI) 2.0.