Report: Smuggling Line in Lebanon Stretches from Akkar to Bekaa
Smuggling operations from Syria into Lebanon extend from “Akkar’s town of Wadi Khaled to the Bekaa region” and the smuggled goods enter Lebanese territories through the Syrian Port of Tartus, the Saudi Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported on Friday.
The “vital smuggling artery” into Lebanon stretches from Wadi Khaled in Akkar to the Bekaa region passing through Bekaa’s town of al-Qasr, a ministerial source told the newspaper on condition of anonymity.
The source said the majority of smuggled goods enter Lebanon through the Syrian port of Tartus. “This leads to a reduction in state imports, although the 2020 state budget notes the need to increase imports in order to reduce the public deficit and service the public debt," he said.
The source referred to the security-ministerial meeting chaired by Prime Minister Saad Hariri that strictly discussed way to counter smuggling.
The source said the meeting stressed the need to activate the role of security forces in coordination with the General Directorate of Customs to close illegal crossings on one hand; and pin down smugglers on the other.
He pointed out that the overlapping border areas between Lebanon and Syria facilitates the smuggling of goods, but that the security and customs agencies have the ability to combat all forms of smuggling that deprive the treasury of resources estimated annually hundreds of millions of dollars.
The source noted that “rich” smuggling operations that generate millions of dollars for mafias and parties that provide them a cover, lie in the influx of tons of foreign tobacco, alcoholic beverages ... and other, to the Lebanese market.
Tobacco smuggling led to a reduction in treasury revenues by a high rate in light of the decline in its sales under the supervision of the Lebanese Tobacco and Cigarettes Company (Regie Libanaise Des Tabacs Et Tombacs). “Containers loaded with foreign tobacco arrive in Lebanon through the port of Tartus and their cargo is smuggled into Lebanon,” said the source.
Source: Naharnet
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