The Macao police have nabbed 11 suspected illegal laborers at a suburban construction site, local media reported Friday.

Macao Post Daily quoted police sources as saying that the police personnel Thursday launched a swoop on the site based on a tip-off and captured the 11 suspects and their local employer.

The employer during the interrogation admitted that he "had illegally employed the visitors," which all hold travel documents issued by the mainland authorities, according to the police sources.

The government of the Macao Special Administrative Region has recently intensified the fight against the illegal employment of laborers from nations and regions including the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

The employment of illegal workers is a crime that incurs hefty fines and imprisonment in case of repeat offenders. Illegally employed workers are customarily ordered to leave Macao.

Source: Xinhua