Lebanese General Security has dismantled an organized network involved in smuggling drugs from Türkiye to Saudi Arabia, as authorities reiterated that Lebanon “will not be a platform or transit route for drug trafficking to sisterly or friendly countries.”
In a statement, the Media Affairs Office of Lebanon's General Security said that, as part of close monitoring of passenger movements at border crossings, officers at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport arrested four Turkish nationals, three men and one woman, while they were attempting to enter Lebanon on a flight arriving from Istanbul.
According to the statement, suspicions were raised by the suspects’ frequent travel patterns. Acting on instructions from the competent judiciary, the detainees were subjected to security interrogations that revealed they had established an organized network to smuggle narcotics from Türkiye to the Kingdom, in coordination with external parties and in exchange for financial payments.
Investigations also showed that they had carried out several previous operations using professional methods.
The statement added that investigations produced evidence confirming their direct involvement in smuggling activities. The suspects and seized materials were referred to the competent authorities under the supervision of the Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Interior and Municipalities Minister Ahmad Al-Hajjar praised “the significant efforts made by the security services, particularly the Directorate General of General Security, in combating drug-trafficking networks,” commending the “high-quality operation carried out at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport that led to the arrest of an organized network involved in smuggling narcotics.”
He stressed that Lebanon “will never be a platform or transit route for drug trafficking to sisterly or friendly countries, especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” and will not allow its territory to be used to undermine the security of Arab and international societies.
