Manama: Saudi security authorities are investigating 17 men and women mainly from African countries after they were arrested in a raid on a mixed party held near the western city of Makkah.

The party was held to celebrate the release of one of the young women from prison and around 60 guests were attending when the raid was conducted.

More than 40 were able to escape during the pre-dawn raid and the police have launched a massive manhunt to find them and bring them to justice, local news site Sabq reported on Monday.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice had been reportedly tipped by a Saudi man who noticed a large number of young people going inside a recreational area in the suburbs of Makkah, known as the Sacred Capital in Saudi Arabia.

The man added that the loud noise and the foul smell coming out of the area made him suspect something wrong was happening there.

When members of the commission arrived at the site, they took down all the numbers of the car licence plates before raiding the area.

Discovering that the revelers were around 60 and that some of them were in “compromising positions”, they called in police patrols.

Most of the young men and women managed to flee to the neighbouring hills and only 17 people were arrested.

Initial investigations revealed that the guests came from the cities of Makkah and Jeddah, around 70 kilometres away, and that they were celebrating the release of a friend from prison.

As the police are working on arresting those who escaped, the public prosecution is set to look into the case before it is referred to the court, the report said.

Alcohol and the mixing of unrelated men and women are strictly prohibited in Saudi Arabia.

In October, the commission arrested 28 people, including four Saudi citizens, for holding a “depraved party.”
Alcohol and music instruments were seized at the party held at a recreation area on the highway to Madinah.

According to media reports, those who were arrested were three Saudi men and one Saudi woman, 12 Filipinas, three Filipinos working at a local hospital and nine Sri Lankans. Two more people were able to escape during the raid. A Saudi man has reportedly organized the party.

In 2013, the commission arrested 30 people on charges of debauchery and Satanism in an open air party.

“The group were from 11 different nationalities and included Americans, Europeans, Arabs and Saudi nationals,” a member of the commission posted on his Twitter account.
“The men and women mixed openly at a party, drank alcohol and used drugs as they engaged in satanic rituals, moving around fire and listening to loud music. Unfortunately, Saudis were among them,” he said.

The religious police serviceman added that those engaged in the fire rituals were naked.

“Three men were arrested as they were engaged in obscene activities with women and one American was busted as he was pushing drugs,” he said.