Man Runs Thriving Racket of Child Beggars in Makkah
Zainy Abbas, Arab News

MAKKAH, 21 May 2006 — The raid began at nine in the morning, while the gang leader was still asleep.

Acting on a tip from the secret police, Passport Department patrol busted in on a small habitation in a public-housing district in Makkah recently. Their suspect was an Afghan. His crime: enslaving a group of children.

Organized begging isn’t unusual in the word, sadly. This Arab New piece points out the busting-up of a ring operating in Mecca, designed to take advantage of people’s charitable feelings while undertaking religious observances.