JEDDAH – The Jeddah Criminal Court on Saturday sentenced an Ethiopian to five years in prison and 500 lashes for brewing and selling alcohol. A number of foreigners, including the convicted Ethiopian, used to brew arrack at a secret mountainous location in Al-Khumra and sell it to customers for SR100 per bottle. Acting on a tip-off from local residents, members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai'a) raided the facility. Posed as a customer, a Hai'a agent approached the Ethiopian and agreed to buy two bottles of liquor for SR200. While "the customer" was taking delivery, the Hai'a members surrounded him. Even though the man resisted arrest and tried to run away, the Hai'a men caught him and handed over to the police. However, the man's accomplices managed to escape. The officers seized several barrels of arrack ready for distribution as well as talismans and other materials used for black magic from the hide-out.
