Prostitution Arrests in Aamchit and Maameltein: Are Networks Involved

Prostitution rings in broad daylight, right in the middle of the highways.

What's happening on the streets of Lebanon?

From Amchit to Maameltein, girls are soliciting customers on the roads.

And arrests keep happening in the same areas.

But what's really going on? Are these isolated cases, or are there networks operating out of sight?

The Internal Security Forces announced the arrest of four girls.

Three of them were on the Amchit- Jbeil Highway, and the fourth was on the coastal road in Maameltein.

Following a security operation on October 31.

Among the detainees were Lebanese and Syrian women, and two girls of unknown nationality.

According to the security statement, they admitted to the charges against them and were referred to the judiciary.

But the surprise isn't just the latest arrests, it's the numbers that came before them, too.

Last July, four women were arrested in Maameltein.

And in October, the arrest of more girls in the same area was announced.

One of them was a Syrian minor. With the arrests in Amchit and Maameltein, that brings us to 15 arrests, announced in less than four months.

But where are these girls coming from? And are some of them coming from distant areas, like the north, to work on the Amchit and Maamelteine highways?

And who's ensuring they have transport and clients if there's no authority organizing this activity?

All these questions remain officially unanswered.

And the issue isn't limited to this area.

From Jiyeh to Hamra, security forces uncovered networks exploiting chalets, hotels, and social media apps.

Some cases involved blackmail and extortion.

More troubling, some of those detained in previous operations were minors.

This raises the possibility of child sexual exploitation.

In a country being suffocated by economic and social crises, are need and poverty making girls more vulnerable to exploitation?

And why do arrests keep happening despite security crackdowns?

There's one detail here that shouldn't be overlooked.

Why Amchit and Maamelteine specifically?

We're talking about an area located on a vital route connecting Beirut to Keserwan, the mountains, and the north, with constant traffic and movement.

Could the location be attracting this activity?

And are there girls coming from faraway areas to work in places where no one knows them?

Various methods are being uncovered, from standing on the streets outside hotels and chalets to using dating apps.

So, is Lebanon's prostitution market changing its map and how it operates?

Or are these old practices simply becoming more visible today than before?

And the more troubling question: if four security operations uncovered this many women in custody over just a few months, how much activity is still going on beyond the security agencies' watch?

And have Amchit and Maameltein become new points on Lebanon's prostitution map?

Or has this map really been there for a long time, and are we only now beginning to discover its scale?