Police arrested 16 members of a criminal gang, which was allegedly involved in more than 70 thefts. Riyadh Police spokesman Col. Fawaz Al-Maiman said police stations in various neighborhoods of Riyadh had received reports of a number of thefts. A number of videos were posted on social media networks showing a masked gang raiding several stores and stealing the cash registers. The gang had white weapons and their identity was unknown. Police suspected the same gang had stolen 10 cars from various neighborhoods and committed more than 70 thefts. The officers monitored movements of the gang members and set up an ambush. They surrounded the gang at their next destination and caught them red-handed as they were about to rob another store. Some of the gang members were arrested while a few of them managed to escape. After interrogating the arrested members, the officers were able to identify and arrest the other members as well. Man imprisoned for defaming scholars RIYADH — The Criminal Court in Riyadh on Sunday sentenced a man to nine years in prison for defaming members of the Senior Council of Scholars. The man, who had founded an illegal organization, was convicted of spreading false information with the aim of defaming members of the council and the Saudi judicial system. When the man failed to produce evidence to substantiate his accusations, the judge issued an initial verdict, sentencing him to nine years in prison and a travel ban for another nine years upon his release. The judge also obliged the man to pledge that he will not start an illegal organization again and never to defame officials in the Kingdom. Five arrested over sexual harassment RIYADH — Police arrested five men for sexual harassment on Sunday following reports from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia), Riyadh Police spokesman Fawaz Al-Maiman said. The men, all of them Saudis in their 20s, allegedly touched girls passing by them in public places in northern Riyadh. Police identified the men and arrested them. The case was forwarded to the pertinent authorities. 13 million amphetamine pills seized in 6 months TABUK — Border Guards in Tabuk seized 13 million amphetamine pills and 552 kilograms of hashish in the past six months. The most common method of smuggling illegal drugs was by stashing them in random containers and bottles and throwing the containers in the sea. The containers would be left to drift to the shore and others receive them. The guards managed to collect these containers before they reached the shores.
