The Department for Combating Illegal Migration (DCIM) announced on Saturday that it had apprehended 18 irregular migrants inside an apartment in the city of Bayda, who were preparing to migrate via makeshift boats toward European shores.

The department said in a post on its Facebook page that information had been received by the Desert Patrols Office in Jabal al-Akhdar indicating the presence of a group of migrants gathered inside an apartment being used as a staging area to house them in preparation for smuggling them across the sea.

It added that a patrol was immediately formed and dispatched to the location, where the apartment was raided and 18 Bangladeshi migrants were apprehended, all of whom lacked identification documents and were preparing to embark on the illegal migration journey.

The administration confirmed that the necessary legal measures have been taken against them, noting that investigations are still ongoing, in preparation for their transfer to the Al-Bayda Shelter Center, in accordance with jurisdiction.