The Public Prosecution Office has taken steps to crack down on a drug trafficking ring in a move that included filing charges against nearly 50 defendants, among them officials at the Port of Misrata.
The move to arrest the ring followed investigations into a drug trafficking operation in Zliten that was bound to Zawiya and from there to the cities of Al-Ajailat and Zintan west of the country, the Public Prosecution said on Thursday.
The police tracked the shipment and arrested the alleged operator, who was found with three million "Pregabalin" narcotic pills.
The perpetrators were using official documents falsely stating the approval of the competent authority to import the narcotic pills through sea ports to avoid the monitored smuggling routes.
The law enforcement agencies recovered a trove of evidence that they used to arrest 17 defendants before subsequently arresting 30 other suspects, allegedly involved in organizing illegal trafficking in narcotics and psychotropic substances, including employees in the Misrata Sea Port.