JOHOR BARU, May 3 -- Ten underage foreign girls were rescued from a sex trafficking syndicate operating behind a spa and massage parlour front here during an Immigration Department raid yesterday.

Director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said the operation was launched following public complaints and intelligence gathered by the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Money Laundering (Atipsom and Amla) Division in Putrajaya.

"As many as 71 individuals were detained including seven local men believed to be 'captains', and 10 underage women rescued," he said in a statement posted on the department's official Facebook account.

He added that more than RM128,000 in cash was seized during the raid.

Separately, the New Straits Times reporting on...