Hoards of cash, some of it squirrelled away in false ceilings and water tanks, have been seized in a widening anti-corruption crackdown in Saudi Arabia that has evoked both awe and fear.
The clampdown, which has ensnared top-ranking military officials as well as low-level bureaucrats, is widely dubbed as a "mini Ritz " operation, a reference to a 2017 swoop that saw princes and tycoons locked up in Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel on graft charges.
In dramatic gumshoe-style investigations published on state media, the official anti-corruption agency Nazaha says it has caught bribe-seekers "red-handed" in live raids and sniffed out illicit cash hidden in attics, an underground safe and even a mosque.
The crackdown has led to dozens of arrests in recent months and sent confiscated cash to state coffers -- and has won praise from the public.
Saudis have been offered a toll-free number to report any suspected cases of corruption.
"The message (Saudi) rulers are sending to the corrupt is that 'you won't be going to the Ritz, you will be going to a real prison'," a local official told AFP, declining to be named.
"Anyone taking bribes and kickbacks now fears, 'are we next?'"
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