KUALA LUMPUR: Foreigners illegally employed at mobile phone and computer repair shops in Low Yat Plaza here tried to masquerade as customers as soon as they saw Immigration officers raiding the electronics hub in a special operation codenamed Op Belanja yesterday.

But what they did not know was that weeks before the 12.30pm raid, they had all been identified and their actions were carefully noted by undercover officers.

Immigration officers from the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department raided 17 shops and arrested 26 foreigners for various offences, including misuse of work permit, gaining employment in sectors other than those permitted, overstaying in the country and not having travel documents.

Kuala Lumpur Immigration director Wan Mohammed Saupee Wan Yusoff said the operation was conducted after two weeks of intelligence gathering.

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"We inspected 39 immigrants, all aged between 23 and 46, but upon checking, only 14 Pakistanis, 11 Bangladeshis, and an Indian national were detained for various Immigration offences.

Wan Mohammed Saupee said the raid was jointly carried out in collaboration with the Companies Commission of Malaysia, the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRB) and the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso).

"A few of them we arrested claimed to have entered Malaysia as students and were working part-time repairing gadgets for extra income. They claimed to be paid about RM1,000 to RM1,500 monthly, excluding the commission from each sale they made," he said.

A video of yesterday's raid had also been making rounds on social media, as well as the department's official Facebook page.

Wan Mohammed Saupee reminded foreigners to follow the rule of law when they are in Malaysia, regardless of work or as students.

He said the department would continue to monitor tourist spots, such as Bukit Bintang to make sure there were no foreigners operating businesses or working illegally.

All those detained were taken to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Depot for documentation processes.