The operation was carried out on the instructions of acting Riyadh Gov. Prince Sattam, who received many complaints from residents about disturbances from fireworks in their neighborhood.
The police raided nine locations, seized fireworks and arrested 14 expatriate workers who were engaged in selling the mini-explosives during Ramadan. The police found the sale of these items in Al-Owais Taiba, Hijab and Hammam souks. They also seized seven trucks that were used as mobile units for the sale of these items. Stocks of fireworks were found stashed away at various locations.
Authorities are also cracking down on panhandlers, having arrested 181 beggars in Riyadh recently. The program to combat beggary was carried out from the first day of the holy month.
A senior police official said beggars exploit the sympathy of the people and try to extort money from the kindhearted during the holy month. Among those arrested were two Saudi men, 33 Saudi women and seven Saudi children. The others, including eight women, were foreigners.
