MAKKAH, 3 July 2007 — The fingerprinting system the Passport Department has recently implemented reportedly resulted in tracking down 23 people of different nationalities who had prior criminal records, left the Kingdom and then returned under false identities.
Immigration officials said the suspects are in the process of being deported and have been banned from re-entry for ten years. Legal residents convicted of crimes in Saudi Arabia are deported and barred re-entry after serving their sentences in the Kingdom. The suspects were arrested during ongoing immigration raids in the holy city.
