Riyadh police arrested more than 400 expatriate labor violators in a major operation conducted in Riyadh on Wednesday.

According to a police official, the illegal residents were arrested at several points, including shopping malls, streets and at regular and improvised checkpoints in various parts of the capital.

He said such operations were conducted upon instructions issued by Riyadh Gov. Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.

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.

The official pointed out that expats who were arrested would be investigated and subject to fines and deportation depending on the nature of the cases.

The operations were carried out by Riyadh police in cooperation with other wings of the security forces for the smooth facilitation of arrests.

Police arrested more than 800 illegal expatriates living in the south of the capital under the personal supervision of the Riyadh governor last month.

Men, women and children living in the Manfouha district, south of Batha, were arrested for not being in possession of legal documents to prove their residency status in the Kingdom.

The operations commenced immediately after dawn, according to an eyewitness from the scene of the raid.

He said that more than 400 expatriates, including women with children and infants, were apprehended during the operations.

Those arrested included foreigners of various nationalities. However, the eyewitness said the majority of illegals were African nationals.

Riyadh police arrested 307 illegal residents, including 13 wanted men, two months ago in a predawn operation. The combing operations were conducted on the instructions of the Riyadh governor.

According to Riyadh police, the 24-hour operation was carried out on Tuesday in Manfouha, Hai Al-Wazara (Hara) and Batha city center. “Those arrested were of different nationalities and booked for various offenses, such as overstaying their visas, running away from sponsors and people with ‘free visas’ looking for employment,” the official said.

The illegal residents were mostly concentrated on Al-Frayan Street, Sitteen Street in Manfouha, in Hara and the Batha area.

Authorities, under the supervision of Maj. Gen. Saud Al-Hilal, cordoned off the areas before the raid commenced to prevent illegal expats from escaping.

A total of 45 vegetable vendors who had overstayed their Haj and Umrah visas were also arrested in the Hara and Batha areas during the raids.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, is a goldmine for millions of people from Asia and elsewhere in the Arab world, who find work as common laborers, drivers, porters and housemaids. Expatriates account for around 9 million of the country’s 27 million population.