JEDDAH, 21 May 2007 — Officers from the Passport Department yesterday arrested an Afghan counterfeiter at his home in the southern Sabeel district of the city.

Passport officers, having received a tip-off that an Afghan expatriate was running a counterfeiting operation from his home, set up a trap to arrest the man red-handed. The man was reported to forge iqamas and other official documents. “The operation took a few days as he was cautious in dealing with the undercover officers,” said a passport official.

The authorities are continuously cracking down on counterfeiters and have been extremely successful in arresting hundreds of them in the past. Capt. Muhammmad Al-Bishi, head of the Investigating Department at the Passport Department, said that nowadays most counterfeiters run their operations from their homes to avoid getting caught. He added that the arrested Afghan was using high-quality material and methods that could have fooled anyone.

Al-Bishi said that citizens and residents, who come across counterfeiters, should report them to the authorities. A number of forged iqamas and passports were also retrieved from the Afghan’s home.