With no chance of survival and dwindling search efforts, the number of victims from the "death boat" that sank off the coast of Arwad Island in Syria over ten days ago has exceeded one hundred. Meanwhile, the judicial process resumes its work amidst clear and intense coordination among various security agencies, which explains the number of detainees held by the Lebanese Army Intelligence and the Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces. As of yesterday, the number of detainees in intelligence custody has reached four, who have been referred to the military prosecutor due to the presence of a military fugitive among them.
It was learned that the Attorney General of Cassation, Judge Ghassan Ouidat, has indicated the referral of the detainees and the case files to the Information Branch and has limited the investigations to it, as it enjoys precedence in technical aspects. The judiciary hopes to piece together connections among the detainees to develop a security simulation of the operation of irregular migration networks. Reports suggest that the Army Intelligence has handed over to the Information Branch the mastermind behind the trip, Bilal Dib, who provided "significant" confessions at the investigation branch about the routes to cross into Syria and then deeper into the territorial waters, including his navigation along the land border at a distance not exceeding 50 meters, allowing him to evade radar surveillance.
Dib confessed to investigators that he purchased the boat used for the voyage from a Syrian citizen on Arwad Island and that he collected a total of $16,000 from the passengers, noting that this figure remains under scrutiny as survivors have confirmed that Dib's "fare" ranged between $4,000 and $5,000. He was operating a "large network" of employees and associates to secure "clients" for irregular migration trips, primarily targeting Syrians and Palestinians. Security agencies are also monitoring his brother and four other individuals, including a Syrian, who are acting as "brokers" on his behalf.
