JOHOR BARU, April 23 — The police arrested 19 people for breaching the movement control order (MCO) by participating in two homestay parties after two separate raids in Masai and Iskandar Puteri yesterday and on Tuesday.

Johor police chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said those arrested included 10 men and nine women, consisting of five Thai nationals, all aged 18 to 30.

"The first raid was conducted by the Johor Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) from the state police contingent at 1am on Tuesday on a homestay residence in Masai.

"During the raid, police arrested three men and four women between the ages of 18 and 23 for holding a party and violating the MCO,” said Ayob Khan in a statement issued here today.

According to Ayob Khan, one of the seven arrested in the first raid was positive for THC which is the main active ingredient of marijuana.

He said preliminary investigations revealed that all the suspects were not occupants of the premises and failed to provide reasonable grounds for their gathering.

"As for the second raid, this was conducted at 2.15am the next day on a homestay in Iskandar Puteri where police arrested seven men and five Thai nationals,” he said.

Ayob Khan said all the suspects tested positive for methamphetamines, AMP and ketamine.

"The suspects were not residents of the premises and had also failed to provide reasonable grounds to gather. Two of them have previous records related to criminal and drug cases,” he said.

Ayob Khan said the five foreign suspects were being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63, while eight others were under investigation under Section 15 (1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

He said the suspects were also being investigated under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases 2020 for breaching the MCO.

All the suspects have been remanded until today.

Meanwhile, Ayob Khan said a total of 126 individuals were arrested for violating the MCO as of yesterday.

He said the total number of those arrested for breaching the MCO since March 18 is now at 2,889.

"The 126 arrests were made up of individuals between the ages of 18 and 55.

"To date, 1,832 individuals have been charged in court with their cases being investigated under Section 186 of the Penal Code, Section 270 of the Penal Code and Section 22 (b) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1998 (Act 342),” said Ayob Khan.