Penang CID chief Rahimi Ra’ais said the initiation was held under the guise of an NGO event but police got wind of the illegal activity.

He said the raid was carried out by a team from the state police headquarters at 9.30pm.

“In the raid, 40 men aged between 22 and 56 years were detained. They were from Penang, Kedah and Perlis.

“The secret society group was actually holding an initiation ceremony and recruitment of new members. They hoped to avoid police detection by having it at a fancy restaurant,” he said in a statement today.

Initial investigations revealed that the secret society was making an attempt to re-establish its presence in Penang, Kedah and Perlis.

Rahimi said eight of the men detained had tattoos of an illegal society and police were checking on the group’s network.

During the raid, police confiscated 56 mobile phones, two rings, a necklace and a pair of earrings with an emblem of a secret society.