Underground Networks: The Organized Chaos of Syrian Smuggling Across Lebanese Borders

Smuggling Syrians is not an individual initiative or random steps. It is an organized process led by networks and mafias that extend from the Syrian depths to the Lebanese depths through illegal crossings.

Smugglers have various options. After crossing, the journey on motorcycles becomes similar to what we document daily, circumventing the checkpoints of the Lebanese army.

Dozens of illegal crossings are scattered to the north. A tour with the army on some of them once again shows the extent of geographical interference and the imaginary borders embodied in the few meters of the great river that can be easily crossed.

110 kilometers are the borders between Lebanon and Syria to the north, where the first land borders battalion is deployed. Approximately 1,200 members can theoretically control only ten kilometers, requiring multiple personnel, vehicles, and towers to control smuggling and plug the gaps easily opened by smugglers, as the army states.

In 2023, the army arrested more than 22,000 who entered clandestinely. The peak was in August when only 8,000 were arrested. Returning them does not mean they did not re-enter. During the tour, new techniques adopted by smugglers to transport displaced people were showcased, such as placing them in a gas tank or, cutting through the pickup truck, or camouflaging trucks with stones.

Towers alone are not effective for monitoring without personnel on the ground, but the failure to control large sectors and borders does not prevent waging a security and military war against smugglers, their mafias, and networks, and the necessity of tightening the security and cooperation measures between Lebanon and Syria to alleviate waves of displacement.