Padang Besar police chief Shokri Abdullah said three Myanmar nationals – two men and a woman aged between 15 and 48 years – were arrested at the Padang Besar railway station area at 7.15pm on Monday.

“Police arrested four individuals, including a 49-year-old local man believed to have been acting as the ringleader. The inspection found that the three foreigners did not have valid travel documents to enter Malaysia,” he said in a statement.

Shokri said according to preliminary investigations, the three illegal immigrants were believed to have entered the country through “rat trails” at the Malaysia-Thailand border on foot, while the local man is believed to have bought train tickets for the three foreigners for their journey to a neighbouring state to work.

“The local man has been remanded for 28 days under Section 4(5) of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) from Sept 10, while the three foreigners have been remanded for 14 days under the Immigration Act 1959/63,” he said.

Shokri said another 21 illegal immigrants were arrested by a team from Battalion 3 of the General Operations Force during a regular patrol at 12.15am yesterday. The foreigners were suspected of trespassing on foot through the Malaysia-Thailand border security fence.

He said the 17 men and four women, aged between 19 and 49 years, failed to present any valid entry documents. One of them, a 24-year-old man, is believed to be the ringleader and guide for the group.

“The suspected leader is believed to have received RM200 for each individual and he had received instructions from an agent from a neighbouring country. All the illegal immigrants entering Malaysia are believed to have come to work in several different locations in the country.

“The suspected leader was remanded under Section 4(5) of Sosma from Sept 11 to Oct 8, while the remaining 20 foreigners were remanded for 14 days from Sept 11 under the Immigration Act,” he said.