Lebanese investigative judge Samaranda Nassar issued an indictment on Thursday in the case of a ship that was seized carrying ammonium nitrate, hunting rifles, explosives, and detonation cables, the National News Agency said.
Owned by Tripoli-based Lebanese citizens Kamal K. and Mohammed A., the Togo-flagged ship that sailed from Turkey’s Mersin was intercepted by Greek authorities west of the island of Crete on February 27th, 2016, according to the indictment.
The ship was carrying 6,400 hunting rifles, 10 tons of ammonium nitrate, 151 boxes of the Yavex explosive (a mix of ammonium nitrate and fuel), 5,000 pieces of detonation cables, and 5,000 pieces of detonation filaments.
“The hunting rifles were shipped using the name of the Yassine Middle East Company for Trading and Industry without its knowledge, with the aim of achieving financial gain,” the indictment said, pointing fingers at Lebanese citizens Mohammed A., Kamal K. and Talal D.
According to Naharnet, the text of the indictment stated that the goods were being shipped “without an import permit issued by the Lebanese government and without informing UNIFIL forces present in Lebanese territorial waters.”
The ship set off from Turkey to the port of Beirut with this cargo, and was expected to continue to Cameron, Togo, Nigeria and Ghana.
It also noted that they sought to send the ammonium nitrate container to “its main destination in Congo.”
The development comes days after an Al-Jadeed news report noted that three pro-regime Syrian businessmen were behind another ammonium nitrate shipment that exploded at Beirut’s port on August 4, 2020.
