Lebanese Army announced on Tuesday it had arrested several people trying to immigrate illegally to Italy.

Lebanese Army announced on Tuesday it had arrested several people trying to immigrate illegally to Italy.

In a statement, the army said that a patrol of the naval forces “stopped at 2:00 a.m., two miles off the Zahrani beach, a boat with 2 Lebanese citizens, 2 Syrians and 3 Palestinians on board, trying to immigrate illegally."

The military police is handling the investigation into the case, Army Command - Orientation Directorate added in the statement.

Earlier, security sources had said that the Army intelligence arrested members of a suspected smuggling ring while they were aboard a boat between the shores of Tyre and Sidon.
They had people on board and they intended to smuggle them to Italy.