The Foreign Ministry of the Philippines said Monday that the seven sailors, who were accused of smuggling Libyan fuel and freed later, left Tripoli heading home.

The Filipino Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Affairs Abdullah Mamao arrived in Tripoli and met with the Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed Sayala in Tripoli on Sunday.

Mamao delivered a letter from the Filipino Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Locsin to facilitate the return of the seven nationals to their country.

Ob November 28, 2018, the Libyan Supreme Court acquitted the Filipinos from smuggling charges.

The seven were among the 20 Filipinos arrested after the Libyan Coast Guard boarded and seized Liberian-flagged M/T Levante while anchored in international waters, trying to smuggle 6 million liters of Libyan fuel.

13 Filipinos were released earlier and allowed to go home.

Before being released by a final verdict by the Supreme Court in last February, a Libyan court sentenced the seven sailors for four years in prison on charges of destroying Libya's economy.