SANDAKAN: A total of 915 people were inspected in the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) ‘Ops Gasak’ operation around Sandakan town over a span of three days beginning August 6.
ESSCom Special/Technical Investigation Team Director SAC Rosli Mohd Isa said that out of the inspected people, a total of 323 people were sent to Sandakan Temporary Detention Centre for further screening.
He revealed that after checking, 124 people have been confirmed to be illegal immigrants and were detained and sent to the Immigration Department for processing to send them back to their respective countries of origin.
“The illegal immigrants were detained in three squatter settlements including one near Sandakan Municipal Council flat in Jalan Batu Sapi; one in Kampung Mangkalinau and Kampung Melayu Mile 8.
“They were arrested for not possessing valid self identification documents. ‘Ops Gasak’ is part of ESSCom’s continuous effort to keep ESSZone (Eastern Sabah Security Zone) free from illegal immigrants,” Rosli stated after inspecting the operation in Kampung Melayu Mile 8, here, yesterday.
He said that the three-day big-scale operation to flush out illegal immigrants ended yesterday without any interruption or unwanted incident.
“After this, small-scale operations will be continued,” he stated while adding that ‘Ops Gasak’ also aims to fight against power theft activity, in which the operation was also joined by the Energy Commission and Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB).
He hoped such operation could be done in other districts in ESSZone, at the same time reduce SESB’s loss from illegal electricity connection activity.
Other than ESSCom, Energy Commission and SESB, the operation to fight against power theft was also joined by the Sandakan Municipal Council enforcement team, the Royal Malaysian Police, Immigration Department, Water Supply Department and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
The operation took place following the death of fireman Apolos Jeromos, 25, who was electrocuted when he stepped on an illegal wire connection while putting out a bush fire near Taman Kenari, Mile 7, here. The wire connection had been set up by illegal immigrants living in a squatter colony near the area.