Report: Car Theft Gangs Sell Vehicles to Assailants to Carry out Bombings in Lebanon, Syria
Car thefts in Lebanon have become a thriving business for sides seeking to carry out terrorist attacks in the country and abroad, said al-Joumhouria newspaper Thursday in a report examining this phenomenon.
Car theft has become an organized crime in Lebanon as a number of gangs that do not know each other carry out these crimes.
A car robbery starts with the thief who carries out an operation in any region in Lebanon, transports the vehicles to Beirut or a predetermined delivery place, before a second person hands it over to the Bekaa region.
There, it is handed over to a third person, who delivers it to a stolen car dealer in the Bekaa town of Brital, who in turn sends the vehicle to “a certain Syrian side.”
In Syria, the buyer of the vehicle is a “major international player known as Abu Uday,” reported al-Joumhouria.
He showcases the majority of the stolen cars in a large yard in Yabrud.
Abu Uday sells the stolen vehicles to any buyer, whether they be of the Syrian rebels or regime.
Buyers also include Jordanians, Gulf nationals, and other Arabs, added al-Joumhouria.
The cars purchased from Abu Uday are booby-trapped to be used in Syria, Lebanon, or any other country.
Brital serves as a main center for the hand over of vehicles before delivering them to Syria.
If the car is being delivered to an area controlled by the Syrian regime, then the Brital merchants themselves send them to the area.
If the destination is controlled by Syrian rebels, then the merchants turn to traders from the Bekaa town of Arsal.
The gangs themselves are “highly professional even though the majority of the robbers are arrested,” continued al-Joumhouria.
Moreover, each gang is specialized in robbing a certain type of car.
The chassis of the stolen vehicle is not changed due to the robber's time constraints and because it is directly smuggled to Syria.
This is demonstrated after a car bombing where security forces manage to uncover the chassis number of the vehicle used in the attack.
Al-Joumhouria said that 15 professional gangs exist in Brital, as well as a number of smaller ones
Each gang acts independently from the other, but they are all controlled by one leader, who hails from Brital.
He alone knows the details of the car robberies, who delivers the cars, transports them to the Bekaa, and smuggles them to Syria.
The leader does not allow the members of the gangs to interact with each other because should one of them be caught, he would not be able to uncover the other accomplices.
Al-Joumhouria discussed the details of security forces raids against these gangs in Brital, saying that more than 70 percent of these security operations are a success.
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