Lebanese President Michel Aoun chaired a meeting of the Supreme Council of Defense on Wednesday to discuss ways to combat smuggling and other issues, in the presence of caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab, ministers, and security chiefs.
During the meeting, the Council urged the security, military and customs agencies to “maintain communication and coordination to increase their effectiveness in combating smuggling, and to work to anticipate operations by exchanging information, monitoring any suspicious plans and taking the appropriate procedures against violators.”
For his part, Aoun said: “Combating smuggling is one of the priorities for the sake of Lebanon’s reputation and to preserve financial income, especially in the difficult economic conditions that Lebanon is going through.”
He added that despite the ongoing measures, gaps must be filled as smuggling operations are carried out by effective and organized networks that use innovative and sophisticated methods.
Also, Diab pointed to “civil protests against the living and social conditions and the loss of essential medicines and materials.”
“The Lebanese are facing great difficulty in obtaining medicine, gasoline and diesel due to monopoly and storage, and because the Central Bank has stopped subsidizing most food and consumer products. Consequently, they have the right to raise their voice and call for the formation of a government that will continue the negotiations that we started with the IMF, and implement the reforms that we have achieved and which need to be completed…” the caretaker premier said.
On the other hand, Diab expressed “fear of attempts to exploit popular movements to invest them politically or to drive the country into chaos.”
He underlined the need for security by intensifying patrols, chasing violators, preventing roadblocks and suppressing any attempt to tamper with security.
Interior Minister Mohamed Fahmi presented his report on the coordination with the relevant authorities in Saudi Arabia, following the Kingdom’s decision to prohibit the entry of Lebanese agricultural products into its territories.
According to the report, a number of smuggling operations were seized following immediate measures taken by the security, military and customs agencies.
