JEDDAH: Attempts by foreigners to illegally cross into the Kingdom via land and sea borders this year have dropped significantly according to an official of the Border Guards.
“The Border Guards arrested 1,181 smugglers and 83,932 illegal aliens while attempting to enter the country at various points of entry over the first three months of the year,” spokesman of the Border Guards of the Makkah Province Lt. Col. Saleh Al-Shahri told Arab News on Thursday.
Al-Shahri added that though most of these illegals were caught trying to smuggle goods or themselves into the Kingdom, some of them were found in no man’s land near the borders while some fishermen were arrested violating fishing rules and port regulations, while others were rescued from the sea.
In a recent haul, the Border Guards rescued 85 illegal entrants including women on the uninhabited island of Qad Hamir about 30 km south of Al-Leith.
“One of the guards team found them in a famished state and in poor health,” Al-Shahri said.
