Cairo: As part of a stepped-up clampdown on illegal pilgrims and collaborators, Saudi security authorities are using drones to detect and pinpoint violators of the annual Hajj pilgrimage rules.
The Saudi General Directorate of Public Security has posted footage of drones used in exposing such irregular pilgrims and their transporters.
In one instance, security agencies in cooperation with security aviation monitored in a desert spot near Mecca a vehicle carrying such pilgrims. In coordination with security teams on the ground, the driver was arrested at a petrol station.
Saudi Arabia has launched a high-profile campaign titled “No Hajj without a Permit” ahead of the current pilgrimage season attended by around 1.8 million from inside and outside the kingdom.
Authorities have ramped up its clampdown on irregular pilgrims and announced catching thousands of foreign visitors attempting to perform the Hajj without an official permit.
They have repeatedly said a visit visa does not qualify its holder to perform the Hajj and warned against fraudsters touting bogus Hajj tours.
Saudi Arabia has turned back 256,481 visit visa holders from illegally performing the Hajj, a security official said this week.
Spokesman for the Saudi Interior Minister Col. Talal Al Shalhoub said authorities have also caught 160 fake Hajj campaigns since April 29 while a total of 135,098 unauthorised vehicles have been turned back from entering Mecca.
Moreover, 250,381 non-residents of Mecca have been barred from entering the city, home to Islam’s holiest site.
Security has been tightened around Mecca where 84 checkpoints have been set up to keep illegal pilgrims away.
