The Attorney General's Office announced an arrest warrant for the Director General of the Customs Authority and officials the Authority in Misrata International Airport's customs department on charges of conspiring to smuggle about 26.000 kilograms of gold in violation of the regulatory legislation.
This arrest order came against the backdrop of the Public Prosecution’s consideration of the outcome of the Internal Security Agency’s follow-up reports on gold metal export activity in the jurisdiction, according to a statement issued by the Attorney General’s Office.
The statement indicated that the investigations concluded that customs affairs' officials were willing to engage in irrational behavior, by conspiring with others to smuggle 25.875 kilograms of gold in violation of the regulatory legislation.
The Office decided to imprison the director of the Customs Authority, Head of the Misrata Airport Customs Center, the Head of the audit office and the Head of the temporary export committee for gold, for “deliberately contributing to the commission of an incident of achieving illegal material benefits for others, and causing harm to the national economy.”
Last December, leaked audio recordings of calls between the Head of Misrata airport customs and a commander in the joint operations force spread, indicating the involvement of both parties in the incident of smuggling large quantities of gold through the airport.
The Attorney General, Al-Siddiq Al-Sour, announced in January that the Public Prosecution had initiated an investigation into the case of gold smuggling through Misrata Airport. He said in a press conference at the time that the Internal Security Agency had previously sent a report on the incident, before sending the evidence report, adding: “If it is proven that customs members committed crimes, action would be taken against them.”
