Italy seizes a batch of drones heading to Libya

2 July, 2024 Chengdu Wing Loong-2 UAV with an arsenal of missiles and bombs. Photo from open sources Italian authorities have seized Chinese attack drones that were intercepted in one of the ports on the way to Libya.

The Times reported on this. On June 18, Italian government officials at the port of Gioia Tauro in southern Italy confiscated three containers of weapons en route from China to Benghazi, Libya. The cargo ship MSC Arina, which was transporting the containers, was carrying parts of the Chinese-made Wing Loong unmanned aerial vehicle.

In particular, there are reports of two drone control stations that were shipped under fictitious documents as parts for wind turbines. This was done to circumvent the UN arms embargo on Libya.

Smuggling of weapons for Libya

According to The Times, it was possible to seize an illegal shipment of weapons for Libyan militant leader General Khalifa Haftar thanks to a tip-off from the United States.

The tracing of the cargo came after Canada charged two Libyans in April with organizing the purchase of Chinese drones in exchange for Libyan oil. The detainees, Fathi Ben Ahmed Mhawek and Mahmoud Mohamed Elsouwei Sayeh were former employees of the International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN agency headquartered in Montreal. "The plan was to sell millions of barrels of crude oil to China without anyone knowing about it," a Canadian official shared at the time of the arrest.

The source stated that the men helped connect the Chinese company with Haftar's representatives to mediate the deal, which also involved the state-owned National Oil Corporation of Libya. The corporation is responsible for distributing revenues from large-scale oil production in the country. The Times notes, citing its own sources, that the United States is increasingly concerned about Haftar's ever-closer ties to Russia as Moscow continues to move weapons and troops through the Libyan port of Tobruk to support its military presence in Africa.

Russia is also actively engaging Libyan mercenaries in the war against Ukraine.

Militarnyi reported on their elimination by the Defense Forces some time ago.