Lebanon to Issue New Legislations on Combating Captagon Smuggling

Captagon pills that were seized at the Iraqi-Syrian border on March 1. (AFP)
Captagon pills that were seized at the Iraqi-Syrian border on March 1. (AFP)
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Lebanon to Issue New Legislations on Combating Captagon Smuggling

Captagon pills that were seized at the Iraqi-Syrian border on March 1. (AFP)
Captagon pills that were seized at the Iraqi-Syrian border on March 1. (AFP)

Lebanon’s caretaker government is preparing to issue new legislations that would designate Captagon narcotic pills as an illegal substance.

The current legislations describe Captagon as a stimulant and the penal laws on the smuggling of drugs do not apply to it.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati chaired on Thursday a security and legal meeting dedicated to combating drug smuggling from Lebanon.

The meeting was attended by Justice Minister Henri Khoury, Defense Minister Maurice Slim, Finance Minister Youssef Khalil, Interior Minister Bassam al-Mawlawi, Public Works and Transportation Minister Ali Hamieh, Agriculture Minister Abbas al-Hajj Hassan, head of the Internal Security Forces Imad Othman, State Security chief Tony Saliba and several security, military and customs officials.

Ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the meeting was held after the growing number of complaints from Arab countries over the ongoing smuggling of Captagon to their territories from Lebanon. The illicit operations have strained Lebanon’s relations with Arab countries, significantly Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon has intensified its efforts to crack down on the smuggling, with authorities busting dozens of operations, confiscating millions of Captagon pills and arresting several suspects. They have also destroyed the majority of Captagon factories in Lebanon.

The factories that produce massive amounts of the narcotic are mainly located on the Syrian-Lebanese border and specifically on the Syrian side of the border.

General Secretary of the council of ministers Judge Mahmoud Makkieh stressed before the gatherers “the need to issue new legislations to intensify the fight against drugs and illicit substances and to prevent their smuggling aboard,” revealed the sources.

Hamieh asked: “Where are such massive quantities of Captagon in Lebanon coming from? Are the factories here enough to manufacture such an amount and smuggle them abroad, given that the security and military forces and customs authorities have succeeded in confiscating millions of these pills?”

He was informed that the drugs were being smuggled to Lebanon and abroad from there. They were also being smuggled from Syria, prompting several of the ministers to demand that the Captagon file be included in the agenda of ministerial meetings that could be held in Damascus.

The question remains, will Lebanon’s officials dare to be frank with Syrian officials with the evidence that the massive quantities of Captagon are in fact being smuggled from Syria to Lebanon? How will Damascus respond to Lebanon’s demand for cooperation in combating the smuggling to its territories and from there to Arab countries?



Israel Targets Suspected Arms Smuggler in Airstrike Near Beirut

Lebanese soldiers inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a vehicle south of Beirut (AFP)
Lebanese soldiers inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a vehicle south of Beirut (AFP)
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Israel Targets Suspected Arms Smuggler in Airstrike Near Beirut

Lebanese soldiers inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a vehicle south of Beirut (AFP)
Lebanese soldiers inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a vehicle south of Beirut (AFP)

An Israeli airstrike killed a suspected arms smuggler south of Beirut on Thursday, in a sharp escalation in Lebanon that coincided with internal talks over Hezbollah’s disarmament in line with US demands, Lebanese officials said.

The strike targeted a vehicle on the coastal highway in the Khalde area, just south of the Lebanese capital, according to the state-run National News Agency. Social media footage showed a missile hitting a car, which came to a halt before a second strike hit the driver as he attempted to flee.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry confirmed one person was killed and three others wounded in the attack.

The Israeli military said the strike eliminated an operative working on behalf of Iran’s Quds Force, accusing him of trafficking weapons and planning attacks against Israeli civilians and military forces.

Israel’s Army Radio reported that the individual was affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The strike comes amid rising tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border and as Lebanese factions discuss the future of Hezbollah’s weapons amid pressure from Washington to curtail the group’s military power.

Thursday’s airstrike was one of the few Israeli attacks in or near Beirut since the truce with Hezbollah took effect in November.

Only two other strikes have been recorded in the area over the past eight months, including one on Eid al-Fitr that killed a senior Hezbollah figure allegedly linked to coordination with Hamas in the group’s southern Beirut stronghold.

Another strike in Naameh, south of the capital, targeted and killed a senior official from the Islamic Group, a Sunni faction with ties to southern Lebanon’s Hasbaya region.

The latest escalation comes as Lebanese leaders prepare a unified response to a US-backed proposal calling for Hezbollah to disarm and place all weapons under state control.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel has maintained positions in southern Lebanon beyond the agreed February withdrawal deadline and continues to carry out airstrikes across southern and eastern Lebanon, following more than a year of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah.