The Libyan Internal Security Agency (ISA) announced that it had thwarted the smuggling of €170,000 Euros from Misrata International Airport to Turkey, by a Libyan air hostess.
The Libyan security service stated that, “the smuggled money was found in the possession of the flight attendant, who works for Afriqiyah Airways and holds Libyan citizenship.”
“The air hostess was referred to the competent authorities, and legal measures were taken against her,” the statement said.
In December, the ISA stopped another attempt to smuggle €326,500 Euros to Turkey through Libyan Mitiga airport.
In a statement, the security agency said that four Libyan travellers were apprehended at the airport, as they attempted to travel to Turkey.
The agency said that it had taken legal measures against them, and stressed it was “ready and vigilant” in stopping smugglers.
Notably, the smuggled and frozen funds, which include billions of dollars in cash, bonds, deposits, large hotels, lands, yachts, luxury cars, and private planes, are owned by the state, which is unable to benefit from them.
The Libyan authorities claim they do not know the total amount of the funds that were “looted and smuggled” abroad. Furthermore, the authorities have not revealed the total amount of smuggled assets in official reports.
The years of intense chaos and corruption caused the previous United Nations Special Envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame to reveal the rampant financial corruption in Libya, and confirm its existence.
“There is a new millionaire every day in the country, and the middle class is shrinking day by day” Salame noted. The political class, he added, “is shamefully corrupt and fortunes collected from political ranks are being invested abroad. Politicians in Libya seize public money and invest it overseas.”