36 Arrested for Attempting Illegal Departure from Sarafand
A number of migrants were detained at dawn Friday for attempting to illegally leave the country through the Sarafand port, announced the navy.
It said that 36 Lebanese and Palestinians were detained on a boat that was headed to Turkey.
They have since been referred to the concerned authorities for investigation.
Army Intelligence later arrested five people in the southern city of Sidon, who are directly involved in the smuggling operation.
On Wednesday, the navy thwarted an attempt to illegally smuggle a number of migrants from the northern city of Tripoli.
Fifty-three people were arrested off the coast of Tripoli as they attempted to depart the country in a Lebanese boat that can support no more than 15 people.
The detainees included eight Lebanese, 28 Palestinians, and 14 Syrians.
Lebanese migrants from the North have exceeded 2,000, while this number tops 4,500 when departures from Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport are included.
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