The Immigration Department arrested 47 mainland Chinese women in a raid on an entertainment outlet in Jalan Jones in Georgetown, Penang early today.

Its director, Abdul Qadir Siddiq Ahmad said the manager of the outlet and a Burmese national male were also arrested in the ‘Ops Sayang’ raid.

"The women, who worked as guest relations officers (GROs), were entertaining their clients, who were ushering in the Christmas, when the immigration and MACC officers closed in," he told a news conference here today.

Seven immigration officers and 19 Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers took part in the raid from 12.45am to 4am.

Abdul Qadir said the GROs in their 20s were detained for abusing their social visit passes and immoral activities while the 28-year-old manager would be investigated under Section 55B of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for harbouring illegal foreign workers.

Penang MACC director Latifah Md Yatim said the entertainment outlet was raided early this year and several times the previous year.

She said the raid was the results of public information and intelligence since several weeks ago and the MACC was investigating whether corrupt practices were involved in the operation of the outlet.

- Bernama