Police in Taif arrested a cleaner who sold sheep meat to popular low-priced restaurants after picking it up from the city’s dumping site where dead animals unfit for human consumption are normally disposed of.

Bandar Al-Osaimi, a municipality director, went to the area at dawn and spotted a man carrying a carcass wrapped in nylon from the disposal site. The man was handed over to police. He later confessed to carrying out this practice repeatedly, saying that the restaurants in question were cooperating and purchasing the meat on a daily basis.

The man, who had SR5,000 in his possession, said the practice “compensated for the limited and irregular payment” of his job.