MADINA: The Passports Department seized over 100,000 mobile telephone SIM cards and 30,000 forged and copied identity documents in a raid on an apartment in the A'midah District Saturday. Six persons of Arab nationality were arrested. The raid was conducted after tip-offs earlier in the day that individuals had been observed trading SIM cards on Al-Hizam Street and that the apartment functioned as a base for their operations. A Madina Passports Department official said that 30,000 of the SIM cards were activated and ready for use and 70,000 were in the process of activation. The six-strong gang used copies of clients' identity documents, including residency permits, to sell the SIM cards without their knowledge. The official said the apartment was put under surveillance prior to the raid, and that officers seized machines and computers along with the illegal materials.
