The center in Bukit Mertajam Town in Seberang Perai District was raided last week on suspicion of providing illegal sexual services by foreign employees.

The raid followed a local resident’s complaint saying that the facility was used for prostitution by foreign women at night, the Asia Times reported Wednesday.

Apart from the 11 Vietnamese women, six Thai nationals, two Chinese and one from Indonesia were working as ‘guest relation officers’ at the center and providing illegal sexual services for customers, officials said.

They also detained two Bangladeshi men working as supervisors for failing to show valid travel documents and violating Malaysia’s Immigration Act.

Penang immigration officials said at a press meeting later that the premises had been raided several times previously, but no arrests had been made until the last week’s operation as there was a secret passage which allowed the sex workers to escape.

Last week, Malaysian authorities captured 184 foreign women, including four Vietnamese, for allegedly working illegally and offering sexual services in Kuala Lumpur.

In recent years, Vietnamese workers, mainly women, have visited neighboring countries like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia and stayed on to work illegally.

Many have been caught, detained and deported.