Deputy Home Minister Azis Jamman said it will be an achievement if the department exceeds the number but warned that an investigation will be carried out if the target is not met.

Azis, who is also the Sepanggar MP, said he also told the police and immigration authorities to jointly hunt down runners assisting in the entry of illegal immigrants and seal off all the “rat trails” along Sabah’s borders.

““I have asked the Immigration Department to investigate why it is easy for migrants to enter Sabah illegally and I want them to work with the police Special Branch to shut the rat trails,” he told reporters after attending the Sepanggar parliamentary constituency Chinese New Year celebration in Kolombong here today.

“We want to show the allegations that the Warisan-led Sabah government are friendly towards illegal immigrants are untrue.”

Based on data from the Statistics Department, 70% of the 1,158,300 foreigners in Sabah are illegal immigrants.

Azis had led a team of immigration enforcement officers in several raids across Kota Kinabalu last night, in which 62 illegal immigrants were detained.

He said he told those detained to reveal to the Immigration Department where they had landed when entering Sabah.

“We want the runners assisting the illegals to come to Sabah arrested as they are the real traitors to the state and country,” he said.

Azis said the Immigration Department had carried out 1,199 enforcement operations against illegals in the state last year and checked 28,555 individuals.

Of the total, 4,180 illegals and 23 employers were arrested while 12,230 others were deported to their countries of origin.