KUWAIT: Policemen round up suspected residency violators during a raid in Industrial Ardiya yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: More than 500 people were arrested in a police crackdown in Industrial Ardiya yesterday, the second in a week following a similar campaign in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh in which thousands of residency violators were arrested. The Interior Ministry announced that 545 expatriates were arrested for violating residency and labor laws during a campaign in the 'handicraft zone' in the area yesterday, while 66 vehicles were impounded.

Up to 502 personnel, including 102 officers and 400 policemen, along with 35 patrol vehicles, participated in the campaign, which came as per instructions of Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Sabah and his undersecretary Lt Gen Suleiman Al-Fahd, the ministry's Public Relations and Security Media Department said in a statement.

Last week, 3,338 people residency law violators and people wanted for various offenses were arrested during a crackdown in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh that lasted for several hours and saw the participation of 1,700 officers. The campaigns in the two areas which are heavily populated by expatriates come as part of efforts to 'cleanse' the areas of corruption, crime and violators, the ministry explained. "The security campaigns are preventive security measures during which the law is enforced on the ground," it added. - KUNA