smuggle

He was arrested after helping Albanian national Artan Halilaj, 39, of London, to smuggle his relative Fiorentino Halilaj into the country on a small boat, in September 2023.

Mr Lee said commercial smugglers already used the AoS to smuggle cigarettes and electronics between Syria and Lebanon.

Nor do they address Israel’s concerns about Syria being an “oxygen line” for Iran to smuggle weapons to its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah.

It’s not just Russia – in various parts of the Middle East, for example, food subsidies in one country can provide an incentive to smuggle ingredients into others where governments provide no support and prices are high.

Zada, known by those he tried to smuggle as Amanj Zaman, sometimes used videos of him being thanked by those he had previously helped, the NCA said.