He said among the main international entry points were the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and the Sultan Iskandar Building in Johor.

“On March 5, all auto gates were reactivated and officers at international entry points, who were previously sent to man temporary depots during the pandemic period, were recalled,” he told reporters during a large-scale joint operation against undocumented foreign workers led by the Johor state immigration department late last night.

He said the department expected an increase in the entry of foreign tourists and would tighten control to ensure there was no abuse of social visit passes and prevent visitors from overstaying.

“They (tourists) must submit proof that they have a place to live in Malaysia, enough money and a travel itinerary,” he said.

On last night’s operation, he said immigration officers raided three premises around Johor Bahru, including a factory in the Senai Industrial Park, where 185 foreign workers were inspected.

“A total of 64 Indian nationals, registered under the labour recalibration programme, were nabbed for working in unauthorised sectors.

“The government’s policy does not allow Indian nationals to work in factories. They can only work in certain sectors.

“Preliminary investigations found that all the detained Indian workers were registered during the recalibration programme in April 2021. We suspect the factory used the services of agents to register the workers,” said Khairul.

He said 16 workers from Nepal, three from Myanmar and two Bangladeshis were also detained during the operation for not having valid documents.

In addition, he said 14 Thai nationals, a Lao national and a Myanmar national were detained in a raid on two spa centres that offered prostitution services.

All the detained foreigners were taken to the immigration lock-up and the employers involved will be investigated under Section 55E of the Immigration Act 1959/63.