Passenger 'smuggling' huge stash of Lebanese currency in sweet boxes arrested at Iraq airport

Iraqi authorities on Monday arrested a passenger after seizing a large amount of Lebanese currency hidden inside sweet boxes at Najaf airport.

The Iraqi Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency said it arrested a "foreign traveller" in possession of the currency upon their arrival in Iraq from Beirut.

Pictures shared by the agency showed large stacks of 100,000 Lebanese Pound (LBP) notes. One source said the stash amounted to about 910 million LBP - around $29,354.

تمكنت وكالة الاستخبارات والتحقيقات الاتحادية في وزارة الداخلية بالتعاون مع مفرزة من الكمارك ومن خلال تدقيق المسافرين القادمين الى مطار النجف الاشرف من القاء القبض على احد المسافرين... pic.twitter.com/TcuI9BbBan

— خلية الإعلام الأمني🇮🇶 (@SecMedCell) January 10, 2022

The passenger's nationality was not given, and their motive behind smuggling the money into Iraq remains unclear.

The Lebanese lira - or pound - has lost more than 90 percent of its value in the past two years, with $1 making around 31,000 LBP on the black market as of Monday.

The country's economic meltdown has been described as one of the world's worst since the mid-19th Century.