The Chairman of the Libyan-Egyptian Trade Chamber, Ibrahim Al-Jarari, said thousands of sheep, cows and camels are smuggled on a daily basis to Egypt amidst the current lack of security on the border between the two countries.

“I warn Libyans of consuming their cattle resources by smuggling them to Egypt every day, saying the cattle are being brought to an area near the border town, Emsaied, to be smuggled at night via the land border routes between Libya and Egypt.” Al-Jarari indicated.

He added that Libyans are taking up such a smuggling trade due to the devaluation of the Libyan dinar against the Egyptian pound and the benefits they can get from the money exchange via selling those smuggled cattle, pointing out that this way is more lucrative than exchanging the Libyan dinar with the Egyptian pound.

“Those sheep, cows and camels will be extinct in the coming few years if smuggling continues.” Al-Jarari added.

He also blamed Al-Thanni government’s Interior Minister and the border guards for the smuggling of those cattle, calling on the officials in Tobruk, Emsaied, and Al-Ashahab, from where the smuggling trucks pass in the daylight, to prevent this smuggling trade and thus help save the cattle resources from extinction.