Saudi police have adopted a zero-tolerance approach toward illegal infiltration into Makkah and have warned that pilgrims caught entering into the city without a permit would be severely penalized.

The stern warning comes in the wake of a drastic reduction in the quota of domestic pilgrims permitted to perform the pilgrimage this year.

Police personnel have been deployed across the Kingdom to carry out special drives to combat unauthorized pilgrimage, with special attention paid to Jeddah, a known port of entry for infiltrators into the holy city.

“Jeddah police have intensified surveillance activity and will curb attempts to enter the city illegally,” 1st Lt. Nawaf Bouq of Jeddah police told Arab News on Monday.

He said: “Brig. Abdullah Qahtani, director general of the Jeddah police, has formed several undercover police teams to keep a watch on Haj campaigns in the city. Any attempt to enter illegally or transport pilgrims without a permit will be dealt with severely.”

Police are also monitoring the activity of Haj pilgrims in the city's outskirts, he said.

Roads connecting the holy city of Makkah with other cities are under surveillance. Jeddah and Taif are two major transit points for Makkah and elaborate security arrangements have been made for these cities using state-of-the-art technology.

Trucks are being closely monitored by authorities to ensure that illegals do not enter under the guise of transporting goods. Only vehicles with bar code-enabled stickers are allowed entry into the holy city.

Residents with iqamah (residency permit) are allowed entry into Makkah only with a "tasreeh" (permit) issued by the Passport Department.

Three more checkpoints are being set up, in addition to the checkpoints already in place at Sail and Hada near Taif, to monitor incoming traffic from the entire Gulf region and the Eastern and Central Provinces.

Fifteen temporary checkpoints are also also being set up by police to check the documents of incoming pilgrims.

Mountains in surrounding areas are monitored by police through cameras and helicopters.

Dozens of vehicles equipped with a 3G data transmission system, which enables data transfer to the National Information Center, have been put in place. Four mobile units are stationed around Makkah to record the biometrics of expatriates who have been caught trying to enter Makkah without a Haj permit.

Police checks have also been intensified at entry points in the towns of Rabigh, Leeth, Bahra, Khulais and Qunfuda, which connect Makkah to various provinces.

Meanwhile, police in the border town of Arar in the north have arrested 13 Pakistani pilgrims who were traveling to Makkah to perform Haj. Authorities also shut down 31 offices offering Haj services, besides arresting 38 individuals, mostly Saudis, for running Haj offices without licenses from the Haj Ministry.