Annahar newspaper reported earlier the arrest of a deputy head of a Lebanese political movement at the airport after finding a “drug chopping tool” with him and then releasing him after political interference.
The news was reported by several media outlets, and comments spread on social media after it became clear that the individual in question was the Vice President for Youth Affairs of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) Mansour Fadel.
A security source at the Rafik Hariri International Airport confirmed to MTV that Fadel was briefly detained at the airport for trying to smuggle a “drugs chopping tool” out of the country.
Fadel was carrying the tool as he was heading to France to visit his son, the source said.
The FPM official was released after he made some phone calls and the Airport Security Apparatus contacted the state prosecutor, who ordered that he be released, the source added.
Fadel then traveled to France after which he published a picture of himself and his son.