Police arrest 170 expat workers for many crimes

Riyadh police arrested 170 foreign workers on various criminal charges, including weapons possession.
Police launched a joint operation with security patrols in the Manfouha District. Various operations netted hundreds of additional arrests on a variety of charges over the past six months.
He said that during the operations, the police found 170 foreign workers who have violated various regulations of the Kingdom. He said those arrested included 90 percent Africans. A majority were Ethiopians and others were Arabs from different nationalities.
Police found alleged violators in shops and public places frequented by foreign workers. The police also found contraband articles, weapons and dangerous blades and knives that could be used for robbery.
The suspects have been handed to the Manfouha police station, which will produce them to the court following investigation. According to the official, the court will then decide the nature of punishment to the offenders. They will then be deported.
He said that the operation was part of the regular operations undertaken by the security authorities to prevent crimes in the city.
In a separate operation, the Riyadh police arrested 67 residents allegedly involved in stealing, buying and selling auto parts. Those arrested were mainly working in the spare parts shops. Some of the suspects were stealing car parts and tires from parked cars in isolated places.
In December, 634 drug smugglers and traffickers, including 207 Saudis, during a period of three months. Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman of the Ministry of Interior, said the arrested criminals had attempted to smuggle various types of drugs worth SR 886.31 million.
The arrested men included 174 Yemenis and 253 foreigners belonged to 32 countries.
“Saudi security officers faced armed confrontation from the smugglers,” Al-Turki said. In such gun battles 12 policemen were injured while two died and four injured among the smugglers.
He said seized drugs included 7.4 kilograms of heroin, 10,623 kilograms of hashish and more than 1.55 million amphetamine tablets.
Police have also seized cash worth SR 11.07 million from the smugglers and traffickers during the operations that took place in various parts of the country.