Lebanese army foils fuel smuggling to Syria

On Thursday, the Lebanese Army announced that it has thwarted a smuggling attempt of fuel into Syria, in light of the intermittent fuel crisis afflicting the Lebanese local market.

15 October, 2020 11:17

NEWS DESK

In a statement issued today, the army said that it seized 20,900 liters of fuel, two tanks of 40,000 liters, two electric pumps and a 50-meter-long hose in the Al-Buqaa 'area - Wadi Khaled.

As a result of this operation, the Lebanese army arrested one of the citizens involved in the smuggling operation, according to the statement.

Lebanese economists and experts have estimated the bill for smuggling from Lebanon to Syria through the illegal crossings at billions of dollars.

At the beginning of this month, the Lebanese authorities detained a ship loaded with about 4 million liters of gasoline coming from Greece, and it was believed that it was on its way to Syria.

Of note, Lebanon has been suffering, since the beginning of this year, from an intermittent fuel crisis due to the scarcity of fuel and petrol in the local market, which pushes a number of station owners to close their doors for days, or limit the quantity for each customer.

J.O