Libya’s NOC welcomes US sanctions on three traffickers operating between Libya and Malta
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Alaina
- . August 7, 2020
- . Update: August 7, 2020 7:31 pm
On Thursday, the Libyan state oil company, National Oil Corporation (NOC), welcomed the decision by the United States of America to impose financial sanctions on a network of traffickers that has contributed significantly to destabilizing the country.Washington announced yesterday financial sanctions on a network of traffickers, including the Malta-based Al Wefaq Company, and three Libyan individuals: Faisal Al-Wadi (Wadi), the ship operator Marayat and its partners; Misbah Muhammad Wadi (Misbah) and Nour al-Din Miloud Misbah (Nour al-Din).
The Libyan NOC will continue to monitor all smuggling operations of all kinds in various regions of Libya and to submit its reports and information to the Attorney General’s Office and the Sanctions Committee of the Council of security. The company said in a note, highlighting that it will follow the legal procedures to prosecute those involved in these illegal acts.
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The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) affirmed that all assets of the three Libyan persons – including the classified ship – which are located in the United States or within the jurisdiction of the United States of America, owned or operated by American people, must be blocked and reported to the Foreign Assets Control Office. The US embassy in Libya writes on its official website.
The office also indicated that Faisal Al Wadi is part of a network with branches in North Africa and Southern Europe. It smuggles illegal fuel and drugs from Libya to Malta, indicating that smuggling operations carried out by the Wadi were transporting drugs between the Libyan port of Zuwara and the offshore site known as Heard Bank located outside Malta’s territorial waters.The embassy noted that the new sanctions demonstrate Washington’s determination to take concrete measures against those who undermine peace, security or stability in the North African country.
