Dozens of families in Akkar and Miniyeh are waiting for news about their members who were arrested in Libya the day before yesterday while they were on a boat heading to the Italian coast. The boat, which carried 110 people (40 Lebanese and the rest Syrian and Palestinian), set sail on the morning of August 11 from the Sheikh Zanad area in Akkar near the Syrian border. According to a knowledgeable source for "Al-Akhbar," data indicates that the "Tarik Ibn Ziyad Brigade," which intercepts illegal migration boats off the coast of Libya in coordination with the European Union, detained the passengers of the boat; some managed to communicate with their families, informing them that the organization holding them demands a ransom for their release. Some families also received photos of their children in their places of detention. The same source mentioned that, typically, the brigade "holds illegal migrants for days, weeks, or even months."
Families of the detained have appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to act quickly to uncover their fate, especially since most of them are women and children, who are "being held in dire conditions." A security source told "Al-Akhbar" that one of the heads of the smuggling mafia, Sh. Al-Hazouri, was preparing to set sail with about 500 people when army intelligence successfully thwarted the attempt, arresting him along with a large number of passengers who were getting ready for the trip, while others managed to reach the boat waiting in territorial waters, including Al-Hazouri's family itself. Notably, the investigating judge released Al-Hazouri five days after his arrest.
Additionally, a force from the Halba Judicial Detachment of the Internal Security Forces thwarted another attempt to set sail early yesterday, detaining 60 Syrians in the Tall Indi area in the Akkar plain. With the beginning of summer, the smuggling mafia has resumed its activities in organizing boats towards Europe, particularly Italy. The departure points for the boats are often from the coast of Akkar, where there is the Abdah harbor with a large number of fishing boats, which facilitates passenger and luggage transport. Amid the proactive security tightening, these individuals have sought more secure areas to board passengers, leading them to alternative destinations like the shores of Miniyeh, Chekka, Qalamoun, and Salhouta.
Security sources told "Al-Akhbar" that the Army Intelligence Directorate has succeeded in limiting the movements of illegal immigration gangs this year; the number of boats attempting to migrate has decreased to around 30, with 14 successfully crossing the territorial waters, compared to approximately 110 attempts last year, of which 56 were thwarted. Smugglers resort to alternative plans to bypass security barriers, often coordinating their operations with mafias inside Syria that purchase boats, secure passengers, and smuggle them into Lebanese territory to hand them over to the Lebanese smuggler. Typically, the boat waits for travelers within territorial waters, and they are transferred to it using small boats departing from multiple points, each carrying between 15 and 20 people.
