Jounieh's bay, seen from the village of Ghosta, on the heights of Kesrouan, in the Mount Lebanon governorate, June 21, 2022. (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros)
General Security announced that it had conducted an operation in a hotel in the Mount Lebanon area, without specifying its name or location. According to a statement, 11 people were arrested "for acts related to prostitution and violations of residence and labor regulations."
Among those arrested are seven foreign nationals from Congo, Kenya, Bangladesh and the Philippines, as well as four Lebanese, identified as the hotel owners, the reception manager and a security guard.
"Weapons were seized during the operation," the statement adds, specifying that those arrested have been referred to the judiciary, and that the hotel was "sealed with red wax by order of the prosecutor’s office."
Previous case in Beirut
This new security forces raid on an alleged prostitution network comes a week after a similar announcement by the Beirut police, under the Internal Security Forces (ISF), concerning a network active "from the southern suburbs of Beirut to Jounieh."
The Office for Combating Human Trafficking and Protection of Morals announced on Aug. 30 that it had carried out a raid in a capital hotel to dismantle what also appeared to be a prostitution network.
