Watch: Saudi Arabia clamps down on backstreet tyre workshops

Cairo: Saudi authorities have cracked down on backstreet workshops trading in second-hand and substandard tyres in the capital 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.

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 shops are without electricity. Even though, they work inside and unfortunately find people buying tyres, which are stolen, unfit for use or substandard,” Abdulkarim said as he accompanied the crackdown.

The video shows how used tyres are recycled and offered as new ones. Some illegal traders were seen hiding inside the tyres in an attempt to avoid arrest during the raids.

The clampdown was carried out by personnel from the Joint Operations Room, an agency of 11 government and security agencies.