KUCHING, Jan 22- The Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM) of Sarawak arrested a total of 42 individuals through Ops Sapu, Ops Mahir and Ops Selera in several locations in the state on Monday until early yesterday morning.

JIM Sarawak through a post on Facebook informed that the operation was carried out by the Kuching Immigration Enforcement Division (BPI).

"Acting on intelligence information, a team of members from Kuching BPI inspected a total of 88 individuals in most of those locations, involving the arrest of a total of 42 individuals.

"Out of that number, 37 were men while the rest were women. Through the surprise inspection, about two employers were also given a notice to appear and testify in order to assist the investigation," the statement read.

Ops Sapu involved arrests in illegal settlements at three construction sites in Kuching-Samarahan Expressway and Jalan Datuk Mohamad Musa.

Meanwhile, Ops Mahir took place in Jalan Astana, Sri Aman while Ops Selera was conducted at two food premises in Demak Lauk and Pending.

The cases are being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) and Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.

"All the individuals arrested in these operations were found to have committed offenses such as not having valid travel documents, overstaying, and not having valid passports to stay in Malaysia," the statement added.

However, the public with relevant information is advised to pass on the information directly to the nearest Malaysian Immigration Department Office or through the online complaint channel.