A committee from the administration also arrested 39 others for selling such remedies illegally. During the Haj and Umrah seasons, many illegal salesmen hawk herbal preparations including aphrodisiacs that they claim produce amazing results.

A report from the administration said its officials seized 3,218 liters of herbal preparations unfit for human consumption and 25,373 kg of herbs potentially harmful to human health.

They also destroyed 625 pieces of equipment used in the manufacture of illegal medication, the report said. The committee made 355 inspection rounds and visited 875 shops as well as monitoring the activities of hawkers in Makkah last year.

The committee fined the owners of 405 shops and closed down 19 shops for 15 days as directed by the governorate.

In a related development, the Makkah Municipality’s Al-Umrah branch has beefed up its inspection of streets looking for illegal sellers and hawkers during the Haj seasons, according to its chairman Hasan Khankar.

Its inspectors raided a number of illegal rest homes and camps over the past two days.

He said in one camp the inspectors found several Asian workers tampering with the expiry dates on the packets of food products and drinks to increase their shelf life.

The workers said these products would be sold in shops run by the camp owner.