On Friday, the Lebanese Army announced that it had arrested 28 people of different nationalities – Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, and Turkish – who were attempting to smuggle goods, including fuel, out of the crisis-stricken country.
According to the statement, army units deployed in the Bekaa and the Northern region from Tuesday to Thursday during which the arrests took place.
Making the arrests, the army announced that it thwarted the smuggling of around 14,350 liters of diesel, and 13,577 liters of gasoline, in addition to 246 gas bottles, and quantities of cigarettes and waterpipe tobacco (m3assal).
The army seized 3 trucks, 2 fuel tankers, 2 cars, 7 pickup trucks, 3 vans, and 2 motorcycles on which the goods were loaded.
Earlier this week, Lebanese authorities busted several smuggling attempts as the country prepared for the lifting of the fuel subsidy.
On Monday, the Internal Security Forces (ISF) foiled an attempt to smuggle 1,000 liters of fuel to Syria, and on Thursday, the Beirut police seized around 100 gallons of fuel that were being sold on the black market.
Smuggling from Lebanon into Syria has been going on for so long without real intervention until now that smugglers have started deeming it their right. That was apparent when a group of them staged a protest this week on the Lebanese-Syrian border calling for their ‘right’ to smuggle.
Image used for illustrative purposes.
