This transaction, which Al Jazeera observed recently, is a black-market currency exchange. “Let me know when you have more,” he says, and disappears up the street. He drops the passenger off where he was picked up. By the time he’s finished, the driver has circled the block.
Inside are dozens of crisp blue and green Lebanese pound notes, 50,000 and 100,000 denominations, each bearing the name of Lebanon’s central bank. The numbers confirmed, the driver reaches into a door compartment, pulls out a bulging envelope and hands it to the passenger, who opens it. The customer pulls out a small roll of United States $100 bills, counts them individually and hands them to the driver, who counts them again. Pleasantries exchanged, the two get down to business. “How’s it going? Thanks for doing this on short notice,” says the customer to the driver. Beirut, Lebanon – A four-wheel drive vehicle pulls up to the curb of a narrow side street in Beirut and collects a customer who climbs into the front passenger seat.
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