New information and details have emerged about how smuggling networks operate in Libya, as it became clear that each network has a group of warehouses in which migrants are kept before they set out to sea.
Informed sources revealed that in each store there are two sections, a section for poor immigrants, and another called “rest”, in which “lucky” immigrants are placed and all the necessities of a decent life are provided to them, including food, drink, clothes and the Internet, provided that they do not leave the rest.
“Infomigrants News” reported that these restrooms and warehouses are distributed on the outskirts of Zuwara, each of which is equipped with severe surveillance mechanisms that extend for a distance of one square kilometer around the warehouse, including advanced surveillance cameras, in order to ensure that no one approaches those spots.
The network said: Some of these stores, especially those belonging to large smugglers, have a military vehicle in front of them and uniformed personnel, guarding them and making sure that no one approaches them.
It referred to the role of some members of the security services in human smuggling operations, adding that the perception of the police here is that it is “the largest smuggler”, and this goes back to the days of Gaddafi.
The news of the rescue ships is followed by migrants who follow the pages of those ships on social media, and then through the application of the Mediterranean navigation traffic, the locations of those ships and the paths that the boats must take to reach those sites have been determined.
After reassurance that there are no rescue ships in the Mediterranean, boats are run from Tunisian waters towards Lampedusa, but if rescue ships are present, they board migrants on rickety boats that have been quickly repaired, knowing that the migrants will only need them six or seven hours before they find them. Rescue ship. Upon their departure from the port, they are preceded by a Libyan navy speedboat, the officers on board in uniform, waiting for the boat 30 nautical miles away, at a point close to the location of the rescue ships that had been spotted by another boat the night before.
The boat continues to monitor the movement of the boat until it reaches the rescue ship. As such; The smugglers would have saved the price of the good boat, the Thuraya phone, and GPS devices, without being concerned about the possibility of a tragedy, such as the boat capsizing or lost its way while sailing.
There is another mechanism, where they carry migrants on board fishing boats and provide them with a rubber boat, and the boat is launched to the site of the rescue ships, and they descend the boat at a visible distance from the rescue ships, and force the migrants to board it and head to it.
This mechanism is also profitable for smugglers, as they did not buy a wooden boat or any other required equipment, and for the rubber boat, its price does not exceed seven or eight thousand dinars (about 1500 euros).
Regarding boat drivers, there are professional drivers, some of whom are put behind the steering wheel without any previous experience.
Professionals, most of whom are Egyptian workers at the port of Zuwara, each of whom charges about two thousand euros to deliver the boat to rescue ships or to the beach.
And the driver is one of the migrants, and he has other clothes with him that he uses so that he is not recognized by the authorities as the captain of the boat.
for example; If the boat reaches Lampedusa, those networks have close relations with the smuggling gangs there, and in addition to human smuggling they work to smuggle various types of contraband such as drugs, smoke and petroleum products, the driver contacts the mediator there, and he plans a return trip to Libya on the supposed smuggling boat.
To meet his Libyan counterpart on a specific date. Often they exchange Libyan petroleum products for drugs, smoke, or any other prohibited goods.
As for the other type of driver, they are usually immigrants, and do not get paid for their trip.
