Seremban: The Immigration Department has busted a suspected organised prostitution syndicate believed to have operated for about a year and generated an estimated RM540,000 in income in raids at three locations around Seremban yesterday.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the operation, which began at 2 pm, led to the arrest of 57 individuals aged between 19 and 65, including seven Malaysian men. Those arrested also comprised three Indonesian men, 12 Bangladeshi men and three Myanmar men, as well as 26 Indonesian women, five Bangladeshi women and one Indian woman.

Investigations found that the foreign women were allegedly accommodated at guesthouses and budget hotels rented on a daily basis or for periods ranging from one week to one month. "The premises are believed to have been managed and controlled by Malaysians and foreigners acting as 'captains' or premises managers," he said in a statement today.

Zakaria stated that the women were believed to have offered sexual services for RM50 per service to both foreign nationals and Malaysians. "The activity is believed to have operated for about a year with an organised management structure to ensure its continued operation and is estimated to have generated income of around RM540,000," he said.

Inspections of the premises uncovered Bangladeshi, Indian and Indonesian passports, mobile phones, premises keys and condoms, which were seized for investigation. The seven Malaysians were detained for investigation under Section 56(1)(d) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for harbouring foreign nationals believed to have contravened the Act.

The foreign nationals, meanwhile, are being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the same Act for entering Malaysia without a valid pass and Section 15(1)(c) for overstaying, as well as Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Regulations 1963 for breaching the conditions of their passes, permits or border passes. The operation was conducted by the department's Intelligence and Special Operations Division in collaboration with the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.