JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - Over 2,000 people were arrested last week in raids following tipoffs from members of the public, said police spokesman 1st Lt. Nawaf Al-Bouq. “Police have been receiving a lot of tipoffs on the security toll-free hotline (642-5550) about crimes and suspicious activities. Based on the telephone calls, police investigators formed a task force to raid various places across the city, which are Al-Sabeel, Anakesh, Bani Malik, Sharafiyah, Faisaliah, Safah, Marwah and parts of eastern Jeddah,” he said. The arrests cover people who have been involved in petty crimes, illegal operation of Corniche motorbikes, bootlegging, car theft, panhandling, fraud, bribery, harboring of undocumented workers and running unlicensed shops. “The arrested suspects were 17,146 male and female undocumented workers operating in these areas, 24 were involved in criminal offenses, 72 were operating illegal motorbikes, 677 were illegal street vendors and 123 were illegal car washers. Police investigators collated a lot of evidence and were able to retrieve some items that were reported stolen in the past,” said Al-Bouq. Full Story>>
