MADINAH, 20 March 2007 — Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice recently arrested four Asian workers and confiscated huge amounts of money and lottery coupons in a raid at a gambling den in the Al-Harra Al-Gharbeya district of the city.
The commission’s office in Madinah received tip-offs from concerned residents about suspicious activities taking place at the house. The commission deployed undercover teams to monitor the building and conducted a raid having confirmed the reports.
The arrested men are thought to be linked to a larger gambling syndicate operating outside the Kingdom. Their main job was to collect money from local workers and then hand them magnetic coupons with special numbers.
Muhammad Al-Daajan, the assistant general manager of the Madinah branch of the commission, said such activities were harmful to society. “Lotteries and gambling are forbidden in Islam. The commission will hunt these groups down and prevent them from continuing their activities,” he said.
The four men have been handed over to the police pending further investigation and will soon be made to appear at court.
Meanwhile, commission members arrested four Africans who were selling satellite cards that allow viewers to access porn channels. The four men were caught hanging around satellite dish shops offering the cards for as little as SR250. Commission members, with the help of police, maintained surveillance of the group’s activities and arrested them red-handed selling cards to a group of teenagers.
Commission members said that the four men would treat potential customers with suspicion and would demand full payment first. They would then disappear for a few minutes before returning with a card. Immediately after the transaction was complete, they would disappear again.
One of the men arrested had two cards with him. Having arrested the gang, commission members handed them over to the police for further questioning.
