Authorities in western Libya have arrested a suspected human-trafficking kingpin who has been under sanctions from the UN Security Council, a Libyan ministry source told The National.
Abdul Rahman Al Milad, also known as "Al Bija", was detained by the interior ministry of the Government of National Accord in Tripoli, the source said on Wednesday.
The ministry said Al Milad was detained at the request of the UN Security Council on charges related to human trafficking and fuel smuggling, which he denies.
Tension is high in the Libyan capital after the arrest.
Al Milad leads a coastguard unit in the town of Zawiya, 45 kilometres west of Tripoli, and was accused by the UNSC of violence against migrants and involvement in sinking boats.
It is also claimed that people his boats have picked up from the Mediterranean Sea have been taken to a detention centre “where they are reportedly held in brutal conditions and subjected to beatings".
A man named Mohammed Kachlaf is “providing protection to him to carry out illicit operations related to the trafficking and smuggling of migrants", the Security Council said.
Kachlaf has also been placed under sanctions by the UN for his role in human trafficking.
In its September report, the UN’s migration agency said nearly 10,000 migrants have been returned to Libya this year, in a 30 per cent increase from 2019.
Last month, Amnesty International said tens of thousands of migrants and refugees in Libya were trapped "in a vicious cycle of cruelty with little to no hope of finding safe and legal pathways out".
