Operation Nets Eight Illegals in Cooma, NSW
Media Release - DPS 36/2002
Eight people are in immigration detention following a joint compliance operation involving the ACT office of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) and NSW Police in Cooma, NSW, late last week.
Acting on community information, DIMIA officers and NSW Police visited a lodge and stopped a bus known to be used for transporting suspected illegal workers to a nearby vegetable farm.
The eight people, including seven men and one woman, had expired visas, were working in breach of their visa conditions or subject to visa cancellation and have been detained at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, in Sydney.
The group comprised five men and one woman from Thailand, a man from the People's Republic of China and a man from New Zealand.
The group will remain in detention while arrangements are made for their departure from Australia, as required by law.
DIMIA officers make regular visits to workplaces in many parts of Australia, such as restaurants, farms, shops, offices, factories and brothels, in an effort to detect and locate people who are in the country illegally or who are working illegally.
DIMIA may also issue warning notices to employers or labour suppliers who are found to have employed illegal workers.
In 2000-01, 14,238 people were located by DIMIA. This includes people lawfully in Australia who were found working in breach of their visa conditions as well as people who were unlawfully in the country.
17 June 2002