Eastern Province police arrested 251 labor law violators Thursday. Authorities targeted the Al-Thuqba and southern neighborhoods.

The campaign took place in coordination with the Eastern Province labor office, the municipality and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.

The area was sealed off during the raids.

Lt. Col. Muhammed Al-Hanif, the campaign’s field commander, said that 199 residency violators and 53 labor law violators were arrested.

“In addition, an unidentified Asian individual was arrested after SR30,000 was found in his possession,” he said.

Meanwhile, the municipality issued 22 shop closure notices and confiscated 230 boxes of fruit and vegetable donated to a charity.

Mohammad Al-Shahri, assistant media spokesman at the Eastern Province Police Department, said “We have arrested 22,073 violators labor law violators since the beginning of the campaign. Violators have been transferred to the local detention center for deportation,” he said.

Most of the arrests took place in Dammam, Al-Ahsa and Hafr Al-Batin.

“The campaign was launched under the guidance of the interior minister and has yielded positive results,” he said.

The campaign has entered its fourth month across the Kingdom. Around 290,990 violators have been deported, while 26,038 violators are at detention centers awaiting deportation.

Meanwhile, border guards have intercepted 105,400 people trying to illegally enter through the Kingdom’s borders since the beginning of the campaign.

The campaign began following the end of a seven-month grace period for expats to either legalize their work status or leave the Kingdom. Around one million violators left the Kingdom last year. There are around eight million expats working in the Kingdom, many of whom are still illegal.