The Houthi militias have long used the coasts of Taiz and Lahj, in southern Yemen, as dens for smuggling weapons, people, and contraband, but recently they have come within range of security.
 
The security services of the joint forces in Yemen launched a massive campaign to secure the coastal strip in Bab al-Mandab District, west of Taiz Governorate, about weeks after a similar security campaign aimed at cutting off Houthi smuggling corridors in the Mudaraba and Ras al-Ara District in Lahj Governorate.

The coasts of Bab al-Mandab on the Red Sea bank and the coasts of Mudaraba and Ras al-Ara overlooking the Gulf of Aden are located on an active smuggling line that connects these coasts to the areas of the Houthi militia, through which many shipments of drugs and weapons pass.

The joint forces deployed on the western coast of Yemen said on Thursday that their security services, in cooperation with the Coast Guard forces - the Red Sea sector, began a wide deployment campaign four weeks ago to enhance security and combat smuggling operations, whether arms smuggling or gangs that exploit illegal immigration. From the African bank of the Red Sea, and its transformation into human trafficking.

According to the statement, the campaign raided smuggling dens in many areas scattered near Bab al-Mandab, including “Al-Omari,” “Hawzan,” “Al-Ru’,” “Al-Khaishiya,” “Abdali,” “Al-Sumayl,” “Al-Muqaqar,” and “Al-Jadid.” And "Al-Kadha", and even the Al-Wazi'iyah District, west of Taiz.

The security campaign, according to the statement, arrested a number of gang brokers, including two smugglers of narcotic hashish, on the coast of the Dhu Bab al-Mandab District.

The statement quoted the commander of the security campaign west of Taiz, Brigadier General Hamdoun Al-Subaihi, Commander of the First Brigade of Support and Support - Director of Security of the Dhu Bab Al-Mandab Directorate; He said that “the smugglers were seized with a quantity of hashish, were transferred to the competent authorities, and the seized quantity was destroyed.”

He explained that the campaign will continue to combat smuggling in all its forms, whether smuggling weapons, narcotic materials, or human trafficking, by pursuing gangs that exploit illegal immigration from the African bank of the Red Sea.
For his part, sheikhs and notables from The people of Bab al-Mandab expressed their support for the security campaign and cooperation with the security services, stressing the continuation of their coordinated efforts with the security forces in confronting this danger that threatens society.

The security campaign on the coasts of Taiz Governorate is tightening the noose on Houthi smuggling, especially the campaigns that preceded it, on the liberated coasts of Hodeidah Governorate, or Lahj Governorate, which witnessed a campaign by the Southern Giants forces, through which they seized more than 52 smugglers, who were handed over to the police, each in a theater. Its operations last August.

The Southern Giants forces carried out a wide military campaign in the Tur Al-Baha District, north of Lahj, the northern gateway to Aden, and succeeded in restoring safe life to the town, which is located on an active smuggling line that reaches from the coast to the Houthi militia areas.

The United Nations describes the migration route from the Horn of Africa to Yemen as the most crowded and dangerous, as human smuggling gangs operate on both banks of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, deceiving migrants that they will transport them to the Gulf states.