A1SaudiArabia.com

JEDDAH – An Indonesian man who supplied foreign women for marriage under forged documents to clientele in Al-Kandara, Al-Amariya and Al-Thaghar was arrested on Sunday. The arrest was made after undercover police posed as clients and entered into a deal for the sum of SR500 for which the accused brought marriage documents bearing official stamps of authentication. As the deal was finalized officers moved in to make the arrest and found in the accuseds bag numerous documents and copies of false marriage contracts. He told investigators that he served mostly persons who had overstayed the permitted time of their visas, many of them taxi drivers, residential security guards and shop assistants, and offered for marriage runaway housemaids. Dowries for the marriages were said to be set at no more than SR3,000. – Okaz/SG

JEDDAH – Police in Jeddah broke up Wednesday a gambling operation connected to an international lottery network run by a group of Bangladeshis. Operating out of the Al-Thaghar district in the south of the city, the group reportedly worked on commission with networks abroad to sell lottery ticket numbers to clients in various parts of Jeddah and would gather to announce the results in the middle of each month. The gambling network was broken up when undercover police began surveillance of several individuals and found them in possession of lottery tickets. Investigations led them to the leader of the operation and a raid discovered hundreds of tickets. It was also revealed that the group sold tickets while selling fruit and vegetables as a cover. – Okaz/SG

JEDDAH – Police in the district of Al-Thaghar arrested Monday an “Arab gang” of qat dealers after being on their trail for several days. Undercover officers reportedly infiltrated the gang to reveal the full details of their activities in the area which a police spokesman described as “notorious for trade in banned materials”. – Okaz/SG