By Libya Herald reporter.
Benghazi, 1 November 2015:
Tobruk military police say they have confiscated a “sizeable” shipment of alcoholic beverages at . . .[restrict]the city’s eastern gate on Saturday.
According to Major Hani Saad Al-Mariami, the head of Tobruk military police, the shipment was smuggled in from Egypt and was seized with the help of Customs Office authorities.
“Upon arrest, the smugglers offered a LD 50,000 bribe to the police,” Mariami added.
He did not elaborate of the size of the seized shipment but said both it and the smugglers had been sent to the prosecutor in Benghazi for further investigation.
Although alcohol is strictly prohibited in Libya, it is smuggled into the country in massive quantities and large amounts of amount of money are made from the illicit trade. A spirit, boukha, is also produced locally but can be of dubious even dangerous quality. Two years ago over a hundred people died as a result of consuming a contaminated batch of the illegal drink. [/restrict]
