A militia funded by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh has been accused of smuggling tons of gold from the city of Misurata to Turkey, according to multiple press reports.
The so-called Joint Operations Force (JOF), also known as al-Moshtaraka, was accused by the Internal Security Service of smuggling gold to Turkey through Misrata International Airport. Flights at the airport were cancelled as soon as the allegations were made public on Saturday, December 16.
In a statement on Saturday, the Internal Security Service, which is also affiliated with Dbeibeh’s government, accused the JOF of assaulting its staff at the airport and abducting others after the staff inspected shipment of gold to Turkey.
The Internal Security Service said it absolves itself from “all responsibility for any security violations that occur at Misurata International Airport”.
A voice call between JOF commander Abualqasim Al-Samadi and the Head of Customs at Misurata Airport, Fathi Makhlouf was leaked and published by Libyan news website Al-Marsad shortly after the allegations were reported by the press. In the voice call, the two allegedly methods to smuggle the gold.
Makhlouf denied in a press conference on Saturday the allegations of gold smuggling, claiming that the voice recording is not authentic. He affirmed that “the export of gold is carried out in accordance with legal controls, through a documented process, whereby financial guarantee is imposed in the value of the exported gold until it is paid off”.
Makhlouf, said that the JOF is responsible for supervising the sea and air ports, stressing that members of the force are “assigned to supervise gold and silver export operations, prepare relevant data, and refer them to the Misrata Customs Directorate.”
The allegations sparked widespread outcry among Libyans, amid demands to open an investigation to reveal the circumstances of the incident and verify the allegations.
The JOF, based in Misurata, was first established in 2013 under the name “The Temporary Joint Operations Room-Misratah” and has an allocated annual budget of 40 million LYD ($8.5 million) by the government. While the militia’s exact mandate remains unclear, the force appears to conduct military operations across Tripoli, Misurata and neighbouring cities. It also operates several detention centres in Misurata and cooperates with state security agencies.
Amnesty International has repeatedly documented the militia’s involvement in enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial executions and arbitrary detention. Despite these violations, Dbeibeh authorized the payment of 100 million LYD ($21.6 million) to the JOF on 10 February 2022.
The JOF was heavily involved in fighting against the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by east-based Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, during LNA’s 2019 military campaign in western Libya.