POLICE have detained 209 foreign women working as guest relations officers (GROs) and 13 premises operators in raids on 12 entertainment centres across Johor under Op Noda.
Johor police chief Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said the operation, conducted from 2.15am to 9am today, involved teams from the Johor police contingent headquarters and district police headquarters.
Of the 13 premises operators detained, 10 were local men while three were foreign men aged between 20 and 53.
“Police also detained 209 foreign women aged between 19 and 40 who were working as GROs.
“Of this number, 93 were Vietnamese nationals, 87 Thai, 11 Laotian, seven Indonesian, six Myanmar nationals and five Filipinos,” he said in a statement today.
Ab Rahaman said all those detained were being investigated under several provisions of the law, including Section 11(2) of the Johor Entertainment and Places of Entertainment Enactment (ENJ) 4/98 for breaching entertainment licence conditions or restrictions imposed.
The cases were also being investigated under Section 6(1)(c), Section 15(1)(c), Sections 55B and 55E of the Immigration Act 1959/63, as well as Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1959/63.
“Checks on the previous records of all suspects found that seven had various previous criminal records involving criminal and narcotics offences.
“Initial urine screening tests also found that 44 suspects tested positive for drugs.
“Thirteen of those arrested were remanded under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code, while the other 209 were detained under Section 51(5)(b) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 to assist further investigations,” he said. - August 9, 2026
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