Army spokesperson released a statement that highlights successful operations of the border guard forces in combating drugs, smuggling of weapons, and illegal immigration

Official spokesperson of the Egyptian army Tamer El-Refaay released an official statement on Wednesday on the efforts exerted by the border guard forces in securing Egypt’s borders during the first half of January 2017.

The statement published on Facebook asserted that the efforts included the discovery of smuggling tunnels on the borders in North Sinai and targeting drug dealers.

In the context of the second field army, three tunnels were discovered in North Sinai, 332 smuggled cigarette packages were seized in Rafah, and two unidentified individuals were arrested in possession of drugs.

The third field army seized 1,987 drug parcels in the regions affiliated to the governorate of Suez, as well as 250 grams of opium.

Moreover, the statement noted that in the context of the Western Military Region located near the north-western part of the country in Marsa Matrouh governorate, 240 drug parcels were seized. Additionally, an attempt of illegal immigration was foiled when forces managed to arrest 226 individuals from different nationalities. Those arrested tried to illegally migrate through the Egyptian city of Sallum to the Libyan borders.

“In the Western Military Region, three [four-wheel drive] vehicles that are used in smuggling operations were found with weapons, while in the Southern Military Region about 7,100 rocky stones [raw material for gold] were found with 22 Sudanese smugglers who used metal detector devices,” the statement read.