Libyan Attorney General Counselor Siddiq Al-Sur announced on Wednesday that his office has begun investigating the issue of smuggling gold through Misrata airport, after the Internal Security Service referred an evidentiary report two days ago.

In the last week of December, audio recordings related to the smuggling of large quantities of gold through Misrata airport were circulated.

The recordings included calls between the head of Misrata Airport Customs, Brigadier General Fathi Makhlouf, and the commander of the Joint Operations Force, Abu al-Qasim al-Samadi.

The calls indicated their involvement in smuggling and coordination between them in arranging operations, with the complicity of the Administrative Control Authority.

The recording related to the case of gold smuggling in Misrata was leaked by the Internal Security Agency on social media before being deleted a few minutes after it was posted.

Al-Sur said in a press conference on Wednesday that the Internal Security Service had also previously referred a report on the incident, before referring the evidentiary report two days ago, continuing: "If it is proven that customs members committed crimes, action will be taken against them."

The Attorney General explained that the final export of gold is the prerogative of the Central Bank of Libya, but its transport for the purpose of manufacturing "requires procedures, including determining the weight, paying fees and verifying the weight and the fact that the companies are licensed."

He added: "The Director General of Customs gives authorizations to some companies, but the procedure are correct, the weights are correct, and there is no smuggling. So, many questions need to be answered."

Earlier, a security source told Alwasat that Joint Operations Force commander Abu al-Qasim al-Samadi, who was previously tasked with securing the National Oil Corporation's headquarters in Tripoli, has been able to travel outside the country despite the prosecutor's office in Misrata being informed of the investigation.

According to several media reports, 8,500 kilograms of gold were smuggled through Misrata airport.

Officials at the airport's customs office have denied this.

Last November, an investigative report by The Sentry indicated that Libya's black market acted as an informal platform for gold trading. Since 2014, Libya has been used as a transit point for illicit gold to countries such as the UAE and Turkey.

Some actors in sub-Saharan Africa are using Libya's transport infrastructure, including international airports, to export gold to destinations outside Africa. The use of Libya's black market as an intermediate transit point is due to the fragility of the state, which allows for evasion of official taxes and imposes no kind of accountability.

The report identified the main transit points used for illicit gold exports from Libya as the port and airports in the Misrata-Zliten-Khoms region, and the port of Benghazi. Noting that the gold comes mainly from Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.