Disturbing societal shifts are emerging in Libya, with a nascent but concerning trend: the entanglement of wives in their husbands’ criminal enterprises, particularly drug trafficking. While still isolated incidents, their increasing frequency demands urgent attention before they solidify into a pattern that erodes the very foundation of Libyan family life.
Security agency records, though limited, bear witness to this unsettling development. Recently, the Criminal Investigation Department reported a successful operation thwarting a significant Cannabis smuggling attempt. A drug dealer and his wife were apprehended red-handed, attempting to transport 34 kilograms of the narcotic from Suluq area to Benghazi. Security forces, having meticulously tracked their route and timing, laid a well-planned ambush in the Nawaqiya area, resulting in their capture after a failed escape.
In a similar vein, the Stability Support Apparatus, Nasma Office, announced the seizure of a couple in possession of a staggering 30,000 “Lyrica” hallucinogenic tablets. This followed a painstaking three-week surveillance operation, culminating in a strategic ambush on the crucial Sabha-Tripoli road, near Abu Al-Gharb between Mizdah and Qaryat.
The exploitation of wives extends beyond the perilous realm of drug trafficking into the deceptive world of fraud and scams. Last year, police in Benghazi’s Ras Abeida district arrested a couple who had conned a citizen out of 15,000 dinars. The elaborate scheme involved the wife initiating contact with the victim on Facebook, falsely portraying herself as single and soliciting a marriage proposal via her “father” – her complicit husband. The couple even rented an apartment in Sidi Hussein area to lure the unsuspecting man. There, the husband, posing as the father, greeted him. Two days later, the victim accompanied the wife and her “father” to purchase gold jewellery and pay the 15,000 dinar dowry. The following day, the couple vanished, their phones switched off, prompting the victim to file a complaint that led to their arrest and confession.
While the involvement of wives in their husbands’ criminal activities remains a fringe phenomenon in Libyan society, its very occurrence serves as a stark warning. The underlying fear is the potential for these isolated acts to morph into entrenched familial criminal patterns, with devastating consequences for the family unit, the bedrock of Libyan society.