In a recent report on Yemen, a team of UN investigators recommended the UN Security Council (UNSC) confronts and curbs the smuggling of sophisticated weapons to militias. The team also proposed introducing a ban on civilian materials used in the manufacture of rockets, missiles, and drones.

UN experts asked the UNSC to include in its next resolution stipulations that call on the Houthi militias to stop illegal seizures and exploitation of social institutions as a source of funding for military logistical support.

They also called for immediate measures to protect the integrity of the Central Bank in Sanaa and private banks, and to ensure their compliance with anti-money laundering activities in order to avoid further damage to their reputation.

The experts also demanded a stop to the unlawful arrest and intimidation of managers and employees in Yemeni banks.

Recommendations came after the experts submitted a 217-page report that showcased new evidence of the Houthi group’s corruption, looting of public and private funds, currency manipulation, and attacks on banks in 2019.

UN investigators based their recommendations on findings regarding the continued flow of smuggled weapons to Houthi militias through various methods, both by land and sea.

During most of 2019, the panel said, the Houthis continued and intensified aerial attacks on Saudi Arabia using two new weapon systems — a new type of unmanned Delta-design drone and a new land-attack cruise missile model.

The experts said that the main smuggling route for both the commercially available drone parts and weapons “seems to run overland from Oman and the southern coast of Yemen, through territory controlled by the government of Yemen, towards Sanaa,” the country’s capital, which is controlled by the Houthis.