You’d think that after the 2020 Beirut explosion, the situation at the Beirut port would be under control and that competent people would now be in charge, but the reality is far from it. Smuggling and bribery are still rampant, with the latest scandal involving submarine batteries.

This was the main topic of Al Jadeed’s “يسقط حكم الفاسد” latest episode, where investigative journalist Riad Kobaissi exposed all the key players in the scandal, including an army general and a relative of Lebanon’s Minister of Public Works, Ali Hamieh. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes were spent, and a ministerial document was used to smuggle these batteries, for reasons that are still unclear.

The episode is two hours long, with Kobaissi covering the smuggled batteries in the first hour before delving into the rampant corruption within customs, which has cost Lebanon more than $800 million, based on his study sample. For example, 2018 data shows that Lebanon imported generators worth over $218 million from Turkey, while Turkish figures indicate barely $200,000 in exports to Lebanon—numbers that were reported to the World Bank at one point.

You can watch the whole episode here: