Enforcement officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) raided seven HDB flats early this morning, and arrested 45 immigration offenders and one harbourer.
The raids caught them all by surprise and the offenders did not have time to escape.
Preliminary investigations showed that those arrested were generally illegal immigrants and overstayers from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and China.
Aged between 22 and 53 years, the offenders admitted that they came to Singapore to work illegally, where they were employed as general workers, earning an irregular income of about $14 to $80 a day.
The ICA said in a press statement that the Singaporean harbourer is a 53 year-old Chinese male.
ICA says its takes a serious view of attempts by foreigners to overstay or enter Singapore illegally. The penalties for overstaying or illegal entry are a jail term of up to six months plus a minimum of three strokes of the cane.
