KOTA KINABALU: A total of 61 people were nabbed at resort construction sites during a raid at Mataking Island and waters off Bum-Bum Island in the Semporna district.
Sabah Immigration Director Datuk Sitti Saleha Habib Yussof said that the construction workers’ documents were inspected during the raid on Saturday (Aug 24).
“We found that some of the workers had previously come in as tourists and were supposed to return to their home country in May,” she said during a press conference on Sunday (Aug 25).
Sitti said the detainees comprised 36 Chinese citizens and 25 Filipinos aged 19 to 65.
She said they are suspected of violating various offences, including overstaying their visas, abusing social visit passes and not having identification documents.
All suspects will be investigated under various offences under the Immigrations Act, she added.
