Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that its security forces had detained more than 300,000 unregistered individuals attempting to perform Hajj, about a week before its rituals begin. Among those detained recently were 153,998 foreigners who came with tourist visas instead of Hajj visas, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The Director of Public Security and Chairman of the Hajj Security Committee, Lieutenant General Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Bassami, said that in the past period, public security managed to seize 140 fake Hajj campaigns and 64 violators of Hajj regulations, return 97,664 violating vehicles, and repatriate 171,587 residents who were not residents of Mecca, and 4,032 violators of Hajj regulations (performing Hajj without a permit), and 6,105 violators of residency, labour, and border security regulations. Meanwhile, those holding visit visas for purposes other than Hajj amounted to 153,998 visitors.

Since last Saturday, more than 1.3 million registered individuals have arrived in Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj, according to Saudi authorities.