The Lebanese security authorities announced, on Friday, that they had managed to arrest a gang accused of carrying out kidnappings and torture, “that shook the Lebanese public opinion.”
The Directorate of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces said in a statement, “This gang is accused of killing three soldiers,” and has been active “since late January 2021,” and its last operations were in January 2022, when it tried to kidnap two citizens in one night.
The statement described the gang as one of the “most dangerous kidnapping and torture gangs”, “professional and armed with guns and pistols, and its members impersonate security” and carried out kidnappings that shook Lebanese public opinion.
The statement indicated that the Information Division was able to identify the gang members and the type and specifications of the car the gang was using, “a four-wheel drive, black color, stolen and with forged plates.”
According to the statement, following setting up ambushes and patrols in several areas, the security forces were able on the 29th of last June to spot the car. During the arrest process, one of the gang members “fired at the patrol members, forcing them to respond to him, and he was wounded in the leg. The force was able to besiege the gang members and strip them of their weapons following they tried to resist and escape, and they were handcuffed and controlled.”
The statement revealed that the gang members are Lebanese and Syrian, and some of them have a history of carrying out criminal acts, drug dealing, theft and carrying out kidnappings.
One of the most dangerous gangs of kidnapping and torturing people and accused of killing 3 soldiers, and the Information Division arrests them in a highly accurate and professional operation
– Internal Security Forces (@LebISF) July 8, 2022
The statement stated that the mastermind of the gang had exchanged fire and rocket-propelled grenades several times with the Lebanese army units, and was accused of killing three soldiers.
He pointed out that the defendants “confessed to what was attributed to them, and that they carried out more than 10 kidnappings, attempted kidnappings, impersonation of security, torturing victims, and carrying out thefts of cars and license plates.”
According to the statement, the Department of the Internal Security Forces transferred the accused and the seized items to the Intelligence Directorate of the Lebanese Army, to take the “legal requirement” once morest them.
