Cairo: Inspectors in Saudi Arabia had seized around 127,000 car tyres found not compliant with specifications, the kingdom’s Ministry of Commerce has said.
The tyres had been found out to have carried future manufacture dates during raids on warehouses in the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
“The impoundment and confiscation process of all quantities was carried to destroy them (tyres) in view of the danger they pose to their users,” the ministry said in a statement.
Suppliers and owners of the violating establishments and sale outlets were summoned for interrogation and referred to public prosecution to face legal procedures related to commercial fraud.
The substandard tyres had been seized during inspection tours made by the Ministry of Commerce of their sale points in different parts of the kingdom to ensure compliance with specifications and related commercial data including the manufacture and validity dates as well as emergency efficiency labels.
Under the Saudi anti-fraud law, offenders face up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of SR1 million, besides naming to shame.
Foreign workers involved in the fraud are deported from the kingdom.
Last year, Saudi authorities also cracked down on backstreet workshops trading in second-hand and substandard tyres in Riyadh, blaming them for deadly road crashes.
An unspecified number of illegal expatriates were rounded up in an “elaborate” ambush mounted by monitoring authorities, a watchdog official said at the time.
Head of Consumer Awareness Committee at the Riyadh Chamber Faisal Abdulkarim posted a video clip showing the crackdown on several illegal stores in Riyadh, calling traders in the fatal business “criminals”.
The video showed how used tyres were recycled and offered as new ones. Some illegal traders were seen hiding inside the tyres in an attempt to avoid arrest during the raids.
