The Libyan Attorney General's (AG) Office said on Tuesday that the number of wanted persons arrested in Al-Zawiya had reached 39, including the perpetrators of murder and kidnapping.
The AG's Office added that those who were arrested had been wanted for years and managed to escape for a while before they were apprehended again, pointing out that some of them had 14 criminal records. It said that the arrest of the wanted persons came as a follow-up to the investigation authority’s orders to arrest those who committed many crimes and had been fugitives for quite some time.
The Libyan Prime and Defense Minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, announced last June the launching of a military operation in Al-Zawiya and the western coast, which was divided into two phases: targeting by drones, and the arrest of all wanted persons.
Dbeibah added at the time that the operation targeted “drug and human trafficking, fuel smuggling, and organized crime, in response to the call of the people of Al-Zawiya and the western region for putting an end to those criminal gangs.
During the same period, the AG, Al-Siddiq Al-Sour, agreed with the commander of the West Coast Military Region to establish a security force that would implement measures of the investigations authority regarding violations of the rights of some citizens in Al-Zawiya, and prosecute the perpetrators. His office announced on July 4 the arrest of 65 people accused of committing violations against some residents in Al-Zawiya, in addition to nine drug dealers.
