RIYADH, 25 February 2005 — Police raided three liquor dens in southwest of the Kingdom and arrested some Asian workers, suspected of having links with the multimillion-riyal alcohol manufacturing and smuggling business.
Police raided the factories early this week after they were alerted by the religious police that some expatriate workers, mainly Asians, have been producing alcohol and selling them in the Kingdom.
“The nationalities of those detained by the police have not been confirmed. But, a number of Asian workers have been taken into custody after they were found working inside the liquor factories,” diplomatic sources said yesterday. The security sources, quoted by local media said “the factories were run by Asian workers, notably Indian and Bangladeshi nationals.”
The sources said that frequent raids were conducted in Riyadh and Abha in the past. The three factories in Abha used to produce 10 tons of alcohol per week. From the first factory alone, police seized 1.5 tons of alcohol, which were destroyed along with the factory’s equipment.
In another instance, customs officials foiled an attempt to smuggle a huge quantity of liquor via King Fahd Causeway near Dammam. The smuggler was arrested and referred to the local court which fined him SR42,000 and confiscated his truck. The vehicle was later auctioned.
