{"id":257488,"date":"2026-07-05T23:07:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T21:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/?p=257488"},"modified":"2026-07-06T18:09:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T16:09:26","slug":"after-the-banned-pesticides-file-al-sweihli-recounts-a-customs-officer-requesting-bribes-of-no-less-than-50000-dinars-per-case-and-container","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/after-the-banned-pesticides-file-al-sweihli-recounts-a-customs-officer-requesting-bribes-of-no-less-than-50000-dinars-per-case-and-container\/","title":{"rendered":"After the \u201cBanned Pesticides\u201d File\u2026 Al-Sweihli Recounts a Customs Officer Requesting Bribes of No Less Than 50,000 Dinars per Case and Container"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Activist Omar Al-Sweihli<\/strong> stated on his official Facebook page:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA clean trade in a polluted market. I was not aware of the nature of work in ports and border crossings in the eastern region, nor how customs officers operate there. I am a trader from Tripoli, and all my business passes through the western region. But fate led a shipment to me when the vessel carrying it suffered damage that forced it to unload its cargo at the nearest port, which was the port of Derna. I suddenly found myself in confusion, not knowing anyone there or the procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI contacted a friend in Misrata who is familiar with trade matters and its networks in those areas, and I asked him to direct me to someone who could complete the customs procedures. He quickly gave me the number of a well-known and influential customs officer there, assuring me: \u2018This man will make everything easy for you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI arrived at my destination and met the man, handing him the documents to begin procedures. My shipment was simple\u2014just one container\u2014with legal papers and fully compliant contents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI paid the customs fees, port charges, shipping company dues, and the required guarantees. The process moved extremely quickly and smoothly under this customs officer\u2019s handling. He replaced the shipping company\u2019s seal with the Libyan customs seal, and the container became ready for release.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He went on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter everything was completed and my container left the customs yard, I wanted to reward him for his effort, so I gave him 5,000 Libyan dinars as a \u2018tip\u2019 for his work. He looked at the money, raised his eyebrows in anger, and said sharply:
\u2018What is this?\u2019
I replied simply: \u2018Your fee\u2026 this is what goodwill offers for your service.\u2019
He gave me a harsh look and said dismissively:
\u2018I do not accept this\u2026 this amount is trivial! I provided you with a service you could not have completed on your own.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was surprised by his reaction and said confidently:
\u2018My goods do not justify what you are implying. If you want, open the container now and inspect it piece by piece. My work is clean, and I have nothing to hide or violate the law.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt that moment, the man dropped his harsh tone, and his expression turned into a mix of sarcasm and mockery. He took the 5,000 dinars from my hand, waved his other hand, and said:
\u2018By God\u2026 don\u2019t ever bring me your clean cargo again! Such deals are not profitable for me. Do not come to me except with high-value cases worth at least 50,000. We are five people sharing this \u201cdeal,\u201d and if each of us does not get at least 10,000 dinars, then it is not a worthwhile job!\u2019 He then smiled mockingly and added while bidding me farewell:
\u2018Safe travels\u2026 and tell your friend who sent you: by God, don\u2019t ever send me clean paperwork again.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Sweihli concluded:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI recall this story now from the past, after the Director of the Media Office of the Libyan Customs Authority announced that the quantities of banned pesticides circulating in the market exceed the volume of officially imported shipments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Activist Omar Al-Sweihli stated on his official Facebook page: \u201cA clean trade in a polluted market. I was not aware of the nature of work in ports and border crossings in the eastern region, nor how customs officers operate there. I am a trader from Tripoli, and all my business passes through the western region. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":257489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[613],"class_list":["post-257488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-libya"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":257490,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257488\/revisions\/257490"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sada.ly\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}