On 27 April, the Attorney General said that it is pursuing a criminal gang involved in sending migrants from the shores of Tubruq to the northern Mediterranean on a dilapidated and unsafe boat that failed to reach its destination. This resulted in the deaths of thirty-eight migrants of Sudanese, Egyptian, and Ethiopian nationalities. The Public Prosecutor at the Tubruq Primary Prosecution Office conducted an investigation, which led to the identification of those involved in coordinating the migrant smuggling operation by sea. 300,000 dinars obtained from this criminal operation were seized, and those responsible for the illicit financial flows through unlicensed financial structures were identified.
On 28 April, the Attorney General said that the Tripoli Criminal Court convicted four defendants in cases related to human trafficking and illegal migrant smuggling. Their involvement in a gang was proven. This gang organized smuggling operations via Zuwara’s coast. They also committed kidnapping and extortion crimes against expatriates. The case details revealed the defendants coordinated cross-border illegal migration and also detained migrants. Migrants were used as leverage against their families for financial extortion. The defendants threatened to publish videos documenting torture.
The court sentenced the first defendant to 22 years in prison. The second received 15 years. The third defendant was sentenced to 12 years. The fourth defendant was sentenced in absentia to 12 years.