Once he approached the soldiers stationed only meters away from the earth barricade built by Tunisia to guard its border with Libya, Fadel Hamrouni, a smuggler from southern Tunisia, slowed down his car loaded with contraband.

A sergeant searched through the trunk, asking Hamrouni to unload a number of goods. The inspection only took 10 minutes, after which point the soldiers allowed Hamrouni to proceed, having made sure there were no arms or drugs.

Once he approached the soldiers stationed only meters away from the earth barricade built by Tunisia to guard its border with Libya, Fadel Hamrouni, a smuggler from southern Tunisia, slowed down his car loaded with contraband.

A sergeant searched through the trunk, asking Hamrouni to unload a number of goods. The inspection only took 10 minutes, after which point the soldiers allowed Hamrouni to proceed, having made sure there were no arms or drugs.

“Smuggling cars are routinely and harmlessly searched since security forces rarely confiscate our commodities, such as gas and consumer goods,” said Hamrouni.

Although Tunisia announced in early July plans to build a 160-kilometre wall along its border to Libya following the terrorist attack in Sousse that left 38 tourists dead this past June, smugglers are seen as a lesser evil and still permitted to carry on with their less-than-legal businesses.

Convenient watch times

Fortysomething Hamrouni is one of thousands of southern Tunisians who fetch goods from Libya to earn a living in their deprived areas, which suffer from a lack of development and investment projects as well as from a high rate of unemployment and poverty.

Each afternoon, Hamrouni leaves the city of Mareth in Gabès Governorate, 470 kilometers southeast of Tunis, and heads towards Libya despite the high temperatures that sometimes reach 50 degrees Celsius. His journey takes around two hours before he passes through guarded checkpoints at the Tunisian-Libyan border.

Hamrouni has chosen this part of the day to make the strenuous journey because there are fewer security and border guard patrols. Also the shift change at this time of the day only requires only one car stop.

They scrutinize IDs looking for terrorists trying to running away from Tunisia with the help of smugglers and they only confiscate smuggled cigarettes when their quantities exceed 200 packets, abiding by Ministry of Trade instructions.

Before he arrived at Ras Ajdir border crossing, Hamrouni changed his direction toward a desert road at the village of Toi then followed a rugged road leading to a border crossing away from the earth barricade and which has been kept open to facilitate the passage of merchants, smugglers and camel herders through the border. Soldiers searched his car there before allowing him to go ahead.

He crossed to Libya without having his passport stamped by border guards because they knew very well he would come back soon loading his car with gas to sell it in the markets of southern Tunisia.

Intended outlets

Ben Garadane Police Chief says the barricade is disconnected because the Tunisian authorities have decided to leave unofficial outlets controlled by the army and border guards to facilitate trade. He says the government’s fears of possible protests in the south justify the decision.

Once authorities built the barricade that stretches from the Ras Ajdir crossing to the Dheba crossing, Ben Garadane traders and smugglers feared the disruption of their movements and the damage of their commercial interests.

In the beginning, the barricade prevented the crossing of smugglers’ cars, but then the Tunisian authorities quickly legalized contraband from Libya by leaving controlled outlets for the passage of traders and smugglers in exchange for maintaining social peace in the south.

There are two types of smugglers – smugglers like Hamrouni work far from the two official crossings (Ras Ajdir and Dheba) and use semi-legal ways. They smuggle gas and cigarettes which customs refuse to allow through the official crossings they oversee. Smugglers move freely between the two countries on the condition that they do not get involved in terrorism and arms smuggling.

The other type prefers to cross through the formal crossings and subject their goods to token customs tariffs. They bring electronic and consumer goods, but do not depend on intermediaries to buy their goods. Fearing the security conditions in Tripoli, they go directly to the Libyan villages adjacent to the Tunisian border.

Cooperation against terrorism

The police chief does not believe these exceptional procedures taken for the interest of smugglers could affect national security or enhance terrorism. “Cars are regularly inspected by the army and border guards before and after crossing outlets,” he says. “The majority of these smugglers are registered with the competent authorities who in turn have made sure they are not associated with any terrorist organizations. These smugglers even do not hesitate to call the army and border guards to report any suspicious matters taking place inside Libya.”

He argues that this collaboration is part of the development of Tunisia’s intelligence system and the activation of a network of informants. “Smugglers in this area are our own advanced sources who monitor terrorists’ moves because it is impossible to deploy soldiers and border guards along the entire border,” says the chief. “In exchange for allowing the passage of shipments of contraband goods, a number of smugglers throughout previous months have helped thwart arm smugglers into Tunisia, which were intended for use against our forces as well as tourists.”

The police chief says addressing the parallel market and its impact on the Tunisian economy should be through implementing medium- and long-term strategies to avoid any direct confrontations with traders as a result of immediate economic decisions.

He believes that smuggling could not be terminated in this transitional period “because it provides sustenance for over 3,000 families in southern Tunisia who will revolt against any decision harming their livelihood.”