JEDDAH, 25 May 2004 — A crackdown by the Passport Department over the past three days has netted 476 overstayers and several passport coupon dealers, Al-Madinah newspaper reported.
Department spokesman, Maj. Aied Al-Lukmani, said officials arrested the passport coupon dealers in front of the department’s building in Jeddah after receiving complaints from the public. Police released the offenders later after they signed a letter promising not to do it again.
The overstayers were arrested when seven houses in Al-Rehab, Al-Safa and Al-Khumra neighborhoods in Jeddah were raided.
The Passport Department also arrested more than 90 overstayers in 11 houses in Sharafiya and Al-Nuzla districts of Jeddah, 34 in Makkah and 21 in Taif.
