Security forces revealed on Thursday the details of one of the biggest drug-seizure operations recorded in Lebanon and involving several raids.
The special forces unit of Judicial Police has been investigating the transport of ready-to-sell illicit drugs between Beirut and Beqaa, the Internal Security Forces (ISF) said in a statement.
The monitoring and tracking operations for this case continued for weeks, and they revealed that the targeted network had been using fake license plates and fake identities to move drugs around.
The network’s members were also found to be using an apartment in Deir Qoubel, Aley, to store drugs.
On April 28th, several operations were conducted synchronously, the statement said.
The first was a raid in the village of Araya, during which 2 individuals, “A.S.” (Lebanese, 37) and “M.A.” (Lebanese, 26), were detained while they were in a Range Rover with a forged license plate.
M.A. was holding a fake identity card, and he attempted to lob a hand grenade at the police patrol but was subdued before he could do so.
In addition to a grenade, the detainees were carrying a large amount of drugs, a handgun with a magazine containing 15 live rounds, and 58 million Lebanese pounds.
The second operation took place in the Jisr Sfeir area of Beirut’s southern suburbs, where a car belonging to the same network was seized. “A.M.” (Lebanese, 29), who had been using a fake identity card that belongs to a Syrian national, was arrested on the site.
The third operation targeted the apartment in Deir Qoubel.
More than 3,500 sachets and plastic containers professionally packed with ready-to-sell drugs were seized in the apartment, in addition to an unspecified amount of salvia, 7 cellphones, and fake Lebanese banknotes.
The detainees, along with the seized items, were referred to the Central Anti-narcotics Office, and an investigation into the case is underway.
*The images used in this article belong to the ISF.
