Saudi authorities have deported 300 pilgrims discovered to have arrived the country with forged visas during the first phase of the 2019 Hajj operations.

Director General, Directorate of Passport, Brig.-Gen. Suleiman Abdullazeez Al-Yahya, disclosed this at the press conference in Jeddah on Wednesday.

He said the pilgrims were deported to their various countries, the names of which he promised to disclose in due cause.

Brig.-Gen. Al-Yahya further disclosed that only one person with a valid visa was caught with fake passport.

He said that biometric captures of pilgrims entering KSA takes only between 15-20 seconds, adding that flights that come a little late are usually due to technical faults.

He praised the Crown Prince for his efforts to make pilgrims comfortable and for the success of the first phase of the pilgrimage for this year.

A total of 1,838,339 pilgrims were admitted into Saudi Arabia for the 2019 exercise as at 12 noon Wednesday.

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