Lebanon arrests two Syrians over people smuggling from Libya to Europe

BEIRUT: Lebanese security forces said on Monday they had arrested two Syrian nationals previously based in Libya who were involved in smuggling people from the North African country to Europe.

The men were arrested in Lebanon´s east, an area near the Syrian border, after they entered the country irregularly, Lebanon´s Internal Security Forces said in a statement.

The pair were part of a network that smuggled “hundreds” of people including “Syrians, Lebanese, Egyptians, Palestinians” and others of unspecified African nationalities from Libya to Europe by boat, the statement added.

They admitted to asking $3,500 per person and to organising boat trips towards Italy and Greece. A boat they had arranged “sank off the coast of the Libyan city of Tobruk” in the country´s east, resulting in “dozens of deaths”, according to the statement, and the duo subsequently fled Libya for Syria.