By Khaled Al-Miraih

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

ABHA — As many as 36,656 expatriate violators of the rules of residency and work were nabbed in various provinces of the Kingdom within the Nation-Free-of-Violators campaign which entered its sixth day on Monday.

Director of Asir police, Maj. Gen. Saleh Sulaiman Al-Qarzaie, said about 63 wanted criminals were also caught within the campaign. Besides, he said, a large number of unlicensed weapons and quantities of ammunition were also seized.

Al-Qarzaie said about 1,919 bundles of qat and a quantity of narcotic pills were confiscated.

“As many as 6,635 traffic violations were registered during the first four days of the campaign,” he added.

Police spokesman, Maj. Zaid Al-Dabbash, warned Saudi citizens against harboring illegal expatriates or providing them with accommodation or transport and said for this they would face imprisonment and fines.

In Madinah, as many as 1,130 violators were apprehended and handed over to the concerned authorities to face, jail, fines and deportation.

Police spokesman, Maj. Hussain Al-Qahtani, said the campaign covered a number of neighborhoods in the holy city as well as several affiliated districts.

In Tabuk, some 595 violators of various nationalities were caught and would be punished according to the law.

Officials said those arrested in the campaign so far include 22,085 residency violators; 6,874 persons trying to infiltrate into the Kingdom and 7,697 violators of the labor regulations.

The number of those deported since the beginning of the campaign stands at 4,457 persons of various nationalities. As many as 3,223 persons were penalized on the spot.