JEDDAH, 4 December 2006 — Authorities yesterday arrested four illegal expatriates from Africa and Asia. They were charged with various criminal offenses including impersonating officials, forgery of official papers and stamps in addition to posing as healers and exploiting people’s superstitions.
According to official sources, the suspects will be prosecuted for their crimes and, pending any jail time, will be deported.
The suspects were arrested after receiving solid information from the undercover police. It led the police to organize a massive raid on the district where the suspects were residing. More than 10 government departments took part in carrying out the raid.
The raid also resulted in the capture of 764 illegal residents. During the raid, the sources said, they found talismans used for spiritual proposes, expired foodstuff and non-legalized herbs and spurious medical substances.
As usual, authorities said they would also investigate property owners. It is illegal to rent to persons who do not possess an iqama (work/residency visa).
Authorities blocked all the entry and exit points of the district to prevent any attempt by the illegal residents to escape, the sources said. Recently, authorities in Jeddah announced a shift in strategy under which raids would be conducted in one district at a time, rather than multiple districts at once, in order to devote more security forces to each operation.
Jeddah police, led by Brig. Misfer Al-Zihami, are concentrating raids with the help of various government departments in locations which have a history of suspicious activity.
