Rare are the moments when darkness and silence save people from death, as happened on Saturday morning off the coast of Anfeh.
It was 3 a.m. when the Civil Defense received a call from a citizen reporting hearing distress calls from the heart of the sea.
This was followed by a call from a lady reporting that the boat she was on with others was sinking.
Immediately, the rescue unit set out with the support of the naval forces. About a kilometer from the shore, they found the boat.
The image of this organized crime did not differ from its predecessors. Twenty-seven migrants were loaded onto a boat that was six meters long, which under normal circumstances should carry only eight people.
It is likely that they were transported from the Al-Burj resort in Al-Harisha, which is usually a gathering point for migrants.
It didn't take long after they set sail for the boat to malfunction due to a hole in one of its air tanks, allowing water to enter.
The naval forces and Civil Defense arrived in time and managed to rescue all 27 passengers, except for one person who was seen swimming toward the shore and is believed to be the captain, who threw himself into the sea as the boat began to sink.
Besides that, initial information indicates that there are no missing persons in the incident.
The migrants were transported to the military police headquarters for investigation, where it was revealed that all of them are of Syrian nationality.
This incident is part of the illegal immigration series, which is expected to intensify between September and October due to the calm seas and the long Lebanese coastline bears witness to it.
In El-Abdeh, the Information Branch arrested a pickup truck driver carrying 42 Syrians, including six children, intending to smuggle them to Cyprus via the Al-Ariba beach.
The final destination was Europe, with each person paying between $5,000 and $7,000.
The driver and an accomplice were arrested.
According to a security source speaking to AFP, "an attempt was made to arrest them on land before they set sail."
Security information provided to LBCI revealed that the pickup truck driver admitted to transporting the Syrians from Berqayel to Al-Samaqiyeh in cooperation with two Lebanese individuals, and the car of one of them has been seized. Additionally, an empty boat was found off the Arman-al-Minieh coast, suspected to be intended for their transportation.
This undeniable reality is that Lebanon has become a transit point for a large number of Syrian refugees on their way to Europe, requiring international cooperation to address waves of displacement.