The Criminal Investigation Agency has arrested 36 foreign workers of Egyptian and African nationalities for allegedly looting and smelting electrical cables.

A security squad south of Tripoli stormed a hub for a gang cutting electrical wires in the Saadiya area and selling them, causing damage to the electricity network, a statement by the Interior Ministry confirmed on Friday.

The operation was carried out in cooperation with the Azizia Criminal Investigation Department and the Western Region Operations Room, the authorities said, noting that inquiries into the incident remain ongoing to hunt down other gangs.