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BEIRUT: A van containing smuggled subsidized heavy fuel oil was confiscated in Chadra village on June 9, a statement from the Internal Security Forces said Wednesday, as residents suffer from weeks long gasoline shortages that has brought more instability to the country.
While performing patrols in north Lebanon, the Internal Security Forces ambushed a van containing 1,000 liters of heavy fuel oil. On board the van were two Lebanese individuals who confessed to trafficking subsidized heavy oil.
After the ISF interrogated the pair, it was revealed that they stole the oil from a warehouse in Aydamun village and sold it on the black-market at an inflated price.
The ISF patrols raided the warehouse and confiscated seven large storage reservoirs containing 140,106 liters of heavy oil and 19,025 liters of fuel.
The owner of warehouse was also interrogated and admitted to illegally storing the petrol and fuel to sell. On the jurisdictions orders, the ISF seized the van containing the smuggled goods. The statement also said that ISF are currently on the lookout for anyone else involved.
Since the start of the year, Lebanon's economic crisis has intensified and has caused critical fuel, medicine, and essential good shortages.
As a result there has been an increasing number of reports of subsidized fuel being illegally stored to sell on the black market or trafficked across the Syrian borders, where smugglers can make a higher profit than in Lebanon. While fuel prices soar and smuggling rates increase, citizens struggle to acquire basic amounts of fuel.
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