14:07, Ministry of Internal Affairs Office.
Tariq Hussein used a red pen to draw a line on the map, pressing so hard that it nearly tore the paper.
"Here, border checkpoint No. 14, the amount of smuggled weapons seized last week tripled. I suspect internal personnel are facilitating this."
His finger moved along the border line.
"And here, checkpoint No. 22, there were two 'equipment malfunctions' last week that paused inspections for two hours. Too many coincidences aren't coincidences."
Sitting opposite was Mahmoud, the head of the Border Control Bureau, sweat appearing on his forehead.
"Minister, I have started an internal investigation..."
"A week of investigation, and what's the result?"
Tariq interrupted him: "Caught a few low-level officers; the real fish are still swimming. Mahmoud, I'm not blaming you, I'm telling you, if we don't clean house, the enemy will break us from within."
The phone on the desk rang.
