ANP Foils smuggling attempt in Tamanrasset

Joint units of the Algerian National People’s Army (ANP) neutralised four armed smugglers during an ambush in the Arak area of Tamanrasset, southern Algeria, the Algerian Ministry of National Defence said in a statement on Monday.

The operation took place overnight between Sunday and Monday as part of the army’s ongoing campaign against smuggling networks and drug traffickers operating along the country’s southern borders.

According to the ministry, the forces recovered a Kalashnikov-type submachine gun with five ammunition magazines and seized two four-wheel-drive vehicles loaded with a large quantity of psychotropic substances, estimated at around 1.6 million hallucinogenic pills.

Security forces also confiscated two Thuraya communication devices and four mobile phones.

The ministry noted that this operation adds to a series of daily security efforts carried out by the ANP and other security services across the country to secure Algeria’s borders and combat organised crime.