(AFP) The police arrested 215 Africans here in a major sweep codenamed "Ops Black Crow", which targeted con artists and drunken troublemakers, the official Bernama news agency said today.

A 600-strong team of police and immigration officers carried out the operation, which began before dawn and ended with those arrested being loaded onto 10 trucks and sent to a detention camp.

Most were from Liberia, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, police said, adding that those found to have been involved in crimes and those without valid passports would be deported.

City police chief Syed Rahman Syed Kadir said Africans frequently created problems, such as performing a confidence trick in which paper is passed off as cash, and also "caused disturbances after getting drunk at places of entertainment", Bernama reported.

Syed Rahman said a handful of the Africans turned aggressive and verbally abused the raiding party.

"Despite being provoked, police used minimal force to defend themselves," he said.