Libyan security forces in Ajdabiya have dismantled a major human trafficking network and rescued 120 irregular migrants during a large-scale security operation targeting smuggling gangs operating along Libya’s eastern coast.
According to the Ajdabiya Security Directorate, the operation followed the discovery of three bodies on a beach near the Bishr coastal area, alongside a damaged migrant boat containing passports belonging to Egyptian and Bangladeshi nationals.
The investigation was launched under the supervision of Mubarak Mustafa Bouhrara after reports from the 166 Infantry Brigade of the Libyan National Army.
Security officials said an Egyptian migrant who escaped from a detention site used by traffickers provided crucial testimony about torture, extortion and preparations to transport migrants toward Europe aboard unsafe boats commonly referred to as “death boats”.
The survivor reportedly told investigators that migrants from several nationalities had been held in overcrowded locations lacking food, medical care and basic human conditions while traffickers filmed abuse scenes to blackmail relatives into sending money.
Joint teams from the General Investigations Department and Bishr Police Station later identified a criminal network involving suspects previously linked to human trafficking and illegal migration activities.
After nearly two weeks of investigations and raids, security forces rescued 120 migrants of different nationalities, including women, from multiple detention sites used by traffickers.
Authorities also seized six smuggling boats, including three under construction with completion rates exceeding 80 percent. Security forces discovered a fully equipped workshop used to manufacture wooden migrant boats locally.
The raids targeted several areas east and west of Bishr, where authorities destroyed multiple migrant detention and torture sites.
The case has been referred to the Public Prosecution Office, which issued arrest warrants for suspects who remain at large.
Ajdabiya authorities stressed that combating human trafficking is not only a security mission but also a humanitarian and moral responsibility aimed at protecting vulnerable migrants from exploitation and death.