An image released by the ISF of bags found after foiling an illegal migration attempt in Minieh. (Courtesy of the ISF)
BEIRUT — Four people were arrested last week for their alleged involvement in an illegal emigration operation in Minieh, North Lebanon, the Internal Security Forces said in a tweet Tuesday.
The ISF stated that each passenger had to pay a sum of $4,000 to make the illegal crossing out of the country.
Two alleged smugglers were arrested on Aug. 24 in the town of Minieh, while the police foiled an illegal migration operation involving 24 people at the same time.
The passengers, Lebanese and Palestinians, were arrested while waiting in two trucks and a car, while a boat was on standby to begin their crossing of the Mediterranean.
The other two alleged smugglers were arrested in the Beddawi district of Tripoli. The suspects have confessed their participation in an illegal migration operation to Europe.
They also admitted to having pocketed $21,500, which was seized, and indicated that the remaining sum was in the hands of the others involved. The passengers were released and the food goods that they had with them were reportedly entrusted to charities. An investigation has been opened, the ISF announced in a statement.
Last April, dozens of people who left North Lebanon in a makeshift boat died after a boat wreck. On Thursday, a submarine crew found the boat and 11 bodies. The army claims that the boat sank because of the overload of passengers on board. The survivors, on the other hand, claim that the military boat purposely collided with the boat. Among the passengers, about 40 people are believed to have died, among those whose bodies were recovered and those still missing.
On Tuesday, the Lebanese Navy arrested the citizen N.B. accused of illegally smuggling around 16 people who were found with him on board a boat, the Lebanese Army announced in a tweet.