The Lebanese authorities have arrested a man accused of having organized the crossing in the Mediterranean Sea that ended last week with the death of a hundred people after the sinking of a boat with migrants off the coast of Syria.
The Lebanese Army has indicated that the suspect, identified as BD, has acknowledged his responsibility and has confirmed being in charge of a human trafficking network that operates in the north of the country, as reported by the newspaper ‘L’Orient le Jour’.
Likewise, security sources have highlighted that the man was arrested in the city of Tripoli (north) and have added that he is also suspected of participating in drug trafficking operations. Seven other people have been arrested as part of the investigations.
Syria raised the death toll in the tragedy to one hundred on Monday, although the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London and informants in the country, has put the number of deaths at 104 and has highlighted that there are still dozens of missing.
The boat, in which a Lebanese flag was raised, had left the town of Minie days before with more than a hundred people on board. Sources cited by the Observatory have detailed that the majority of the victims are of Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian origin.
Source: Europa Press
