In a major crackdown during the past three days, Riyadh police arrested 365 expatriates, including 38 Ethiopian women and 21 wanted men, staying illegally in the Kingdom.

The raids covered four districts — Manfouha, Naseem, Kubeira and Al-Miqla in the Riyadh region.

On the first day, police arrested 200 expatriates with the rest being apprehended in the following two days.

Police said that most of those booked were expatriates carrying forged documents and working as construction workers and vendors on the city’s pavements.

A police officer said the authorities had cordoned the areas earmarked for raids before they carried out the inspections.

Security forces conduct regular inspections to weed out illegal workers and curb crimes on a directive from Riyadh Gov. Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. The crimes include thefts, employing illegal workers, brewing liquor and involvement in nefarious activities.

Since most crimes in the Kingdom are committed by illegal residents who have overstayed their visas, the government has intensified its campaign against this category of residents, according to official sources.

The Ministry of Interior had earlier advised all illegal expatriates in the Kingdom to correct their work and residency status following the end of the amnesty period on Nov. 1, 2013 or leave the country.

During the amnesty period granted by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, illegal residents were allowed to leave the Kingdom without any penalties.

This year, police arrested more than 100,000 illegal residents in the Eastern Province alone.

A recent survey conducted by a local Arabic newspaper said that security forces in Riyadh are faced with a massive task of policing some districts of the city. Manfouha Shumaisi, Nasseriyah, Faisaliah, Kubeirah and Batha districts are particular hot spots of crime and hardly policed.

The official pointed out that those arrested will be investigated and subject to fines and repatriation depending on the nature of their respective cases.

The operations were carried out by Riyadh police in cooperation with other law-enforcement agencies.