Army thwarts fresh migrant smuggling attempt in Tripoli

The Lebanese Army on Friday said it has detained five people in the northern city of Tripoli as they prepared to smuggle 85 migrants by boat to Europe.

The army said the smugglers were detained late Thursday as they were preparing to send 85 people on a boat after collecting a total of $400,000 from them. The boat was confiscated in a sea resort in the country's north, it added, and the detainees are being questioned.

The announcement came days after a boat carrying more than 60 migrants capsized on April 23 off the coast of Tripoli. Seven bodies were recovered, with 47 people rescued and the others still missing. Survivors blamed the Lebanese navy of causing the accident by ramming into the boat. The army denied the accusations and said it was the migrant boat's captain who carried out dangerous maneuvers leading to the crash of his vessel into the navy's one.

For years, Lebanon had been a country that hosted refugees. But since the country's economic meltdown began in October 2019, hundreds of people have attempted a perilous sea journey to Europe to seek a better life. Several have drowned on the way, and hundreds have reached their destination.

Tripoli is Lebanon's second largest and most impoverished city. Lebanon, a nation of 6 million people, including 1 million Syrian refugees, is in the grip of a historic economic and financial crisis rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by the country's ruling class.

On Tuesday, Lebanon's government tasked the military judiciary with investigating last week's deadly sinking of the migrant boat.

Search and rescue efforts are still underway to locate those still unaccounted for since last weekend's incident.