JEDDAH, 11 April 2004 — Police have arrested more than 40 men and women of different nationalities for allegedly running a brothel, Al-Watan reported yesterday.
The arrests were made in cooperation with officials of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice after a number of suspicious activities had been observed.
The alleged prostitutes, mostly Indonesians, were using flats in a residential building in Al-Salama neighborhood, the paper said. Police raided the building and arrested men and women suspected of engaging in immoral activity.
Initial investigations showed that an Indonesian woman was employing runaway maids in the business. According to a police official, the majority of those arrested were women.
Police also confiscated forged iqamas and marriage certificates, contraceptives and materials used for black magic, the paper said.
Meanwhile, security officers at a checkpoint arrested a man known for smuggling runaway maids from the Asir region to Jeddah. The man, accompanied by a maid, admitted that he was going to Jeddah to hand her over to one of his clients. He also admitted that he had been involved in maid smuggling operations for several months. He transported the women in his car along the coast road in order to avoid police checkpoints.
The man coordinated his movements with another person of the same nationality as the maids.
