Malaysia’s Johor Immigration Department detained 19 Bangladeshis among a total of 137 illegal immigrants of various nationalities during an operation at a construction site in the early hours of Friday.

Director Baharuddin Tahir said the operation was conducted in Jaya Putra at 12:38am.

"The department carried out the operation following public information about the presence of many immigrants in the area.

"In the operation, these immigrants were living inside 12 'rumah kongsi,' which have more than 200 rooms that were inspected by our enforcement personnel," he said in a statement.

Baharuddin added some 219 immigrants and one local were inspected and 137 of them have committed offences under various immigration offences.

Apart from 19 Bangladeshis, he said, the detainees included 98 Indonesians, including 17 women, 16 Myanmar nationals, including two women, two Vietnamese nationals, including a woman, and two Pakistanis.

The official added all of those detained were between 18 and 55 years old and were currently being placed at Setia Tropika Immigration Depot for further investigations.