Egypt uncovers booming car trading network

Showroom for smuggled Libyan cars in Gaza Strip Gaza – Mohammad Habib Egyptian armed forces in Rafah arrested the first network specialized in smuggling Libyan cars to the Gaza Strip through tunnels, led by three Libyan smugglers. Security sources stated that smugglers were caught red-handed, explaining that armed forces observed three Libyan smugglers upon their arrival to Egyptian Rafah in a Libyan car, and upon reaching the borders, they arrested the Libyans and confiscated the car.
The three smugglers confessed to smuggling several Libyan cars to Gaza through tunnels, as they enter Egypt with the cars through Saloum border post, then travel to Sinai as Libyan tourists until they reach the borders at Rafah, where they use the tunnels to get to Gaza.
It is worth mentioning that dozens of Libyan cars were introduced to the Gaza Strip recently, and were sold as soon as they crossed the tunnels between Egyptian and Palestinian Rafah, however, they are now lined up in showrooms as purchasers are no longer interested.
The outgoing government in Gaza took serious measures with regard to the cars entering Gaza from Egypt, were car dealers are only allowed to bring in cars with official approved documents, and a maximum mileage, to ensure that they are not stolen.
One of the smugglers, Abdallah, stated that selling cars to Palestinian traders is “very simple”, explaining that he used to buy cars from Egyptian smugglers who bring the cars to Sinai for 5-8 thousand dollars, with accordance to its make and model, then Gaza dealers would come through the tunnels and buy it for 10-12 thousand dollars.
Abdallah said that most cars from Libya were able cross the borders during the lawlessness that spread in the Libyan revolution which toppled Muammar Gaddafi. He stated that dealing in smuggled cars helped him make a large fortune in just a few months.
According to Nabil Fares, owner of a car showroom in Gaza, tunnel owners take 5000 dollars for every car that passes through, while about the same amount is paid at Gaza customs.
“This is why the cars are sold at very high prices inside Gaza,” said Fares.
Different types of cars spread in Gaza, which were previously not seen in the area, as Israel used to control five commercial crossings to Gaza and prevented cars from reaching it.
Fares noted that rich civilians in Gaza bought the cars at first, but that now “they have had enough, people no longer need cars, neither smuggled nor legal.”
The same thing was confirmed by Abdullah who stated that he used to go to Gaza on weekly basis, through the tunnels, to check their need for new commodities to bring it in, as he realized that car dealing almost reached a dead end.
Egyptian security destroyed dozens of tunnels; however, several tunnels are still working to introduce goods and commodities needed by the Gazan market.
The phenomenon of the “new rich” spread in Gaza by an abnormal rate in the Tunnels era, where some youth would collect thousands of dollars, at the same time other youth would struggle to find 100 dollars to live a semi-normal life.
Several sources confirmed that a large number of tunnels have partially stopped working in the past few days, after their workers left, following an unprecedented series of incidents that recently happened, resulting in many victims of death and injury.
Young men who were found near one of the collapsed tunnels said they decided to quit working in tunnels temporarily, fearing the same fate of their colleagues in neighboring tunnels.
Mahmoud Sakr, a young worker, pointed out that the successive collapses of a number of adjacent tunnels raises many questions, expressing his belief that Salaheddin area, where the collapsed tunnels mostly are, has become a dangerous zone, thus he decided to quit.
Gamal Ahmed, another young worker, said that his family pressured him to quit the tunnels following the recent incidents fearing for his life, despite their dire need for his income.
One of the tunnel owners stated that tunnel workers are subject to prosecution and high risks, adding that most tunnel owners use the workers’ need for cash and force them to work under hazardous conditions. He further stated that some owners do not give workers their rights or issue compensation for families of the victims.
Several civil society organizations and political powers called on relevant authorities to interfere and provide protection for tunnel workers, as well as compelling tunnel owners to issue compensations for affected families of victims.