TRIPOLI, Libya—The Libyan navy said Monday it has seized an oil tanker near the maritime border with Tunisia and detained the 20-member Filipino crew on suspicion of fuel smuggling.
Navy spokesman Gen. Ayoub Kacem said the vessel was intercepted on Sunday off Abu Kamash, 170 kilometers west of Tripoli, and its crew transported to the capital to appear before the prosecutor general.
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The Liberian-flagged tanker belonging to a Greek company was loaded with six million liters of contraband fuel, he said.
Plunged into conflict and political chaos since a 2011 revolution that ousted and killed Libya’s longtime leader Col. Moammar Kadhafi, oil smuggling to Tunisia, Malta and Tunisia has become a lucrative trade.
