JEDDAH, 22 August 2005 — Police broke up a ring of currency counterfeiters in a raid in Jeddah in the early hours of yesterday.
According to officials with the Jeddah police, five African men believed to be involved in the racket were arrested during a raid led by Brig. Gen. Misfer Al-Zuhami, head of Jeddah police. As well as police, 11 security and government departments were involved in the raid.
Yesterday’s security operation targeted the districts of Ghulail and Al-Nuzlah and covered 52 houses. Police detained 1,156 illegal overstayers during the raid.
Police believe the counterfeiters are linked to a larger network. Paper used to counterfeit currencies such as US dollar was seized.
Saed, a Saudi who lives next to the suspects arrested in Al-Nuzlah, said that he had reported this to security officials, after he saw the picture of a man in a local newspaper arrested in a previous security raid and who was identified as a counterfeiter. “The man in the paper used to live with the men before he moved out,” said Saed.
He said the police started investigating the suspects and their operations after he alerted them. “Now I feel safe and need not worry about my criminally involved neighbors. I am happy they got them,” Saed said.
Police have increased the frequency of security crackdowns in Jeddah during the past few days to cleanse the city of illegals.
