Lebanon arrests two brothers suspected in Saudi drug haul
Lebanon has detained two brothers suspected of being
involved in a foiled attempt to smuggle amphetamines into Saudi Arabia that
prompted the Saudi authorities to impose a ban on importing Lebanese produce,
the caretaker government said on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia announced the ban on April 23 after the
discovery of 5.3 million Captagon pills, a type of amphetamine, hidden in
pomegranate shipments from Lebanon.
Interior minister in the caretaker government, Mohamed
Fahmy, was speaking in an interview with Lebanon's MTV broadcaster during a
tour of the border area from the north to the Bekaa valley where there is
rampant smuggling across the border with Syria, of goods from drugs to fuel and
subsidised food.
"We have uncovered those complicit and a follow-up of
the case is ongoing," Fahmy said.
Lebanon was in contact with Saudi authorities on the course
of the investigations.
Fahmy said there was no evidence that Lebanon's powerful
Shi'ite Hezbollah group was in involved in the case. Hezbollah has long been
accused by the Washington and its regional foes of links to a multi-million
global drug trade in Lebanon and Syria to finance its military operations.
The pro-Iranian militia controls the border area and its
fighters move freely across the frontier to fight alongside Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad's forces.
Syria is believed to be one of the biggest producers and
exporters of counterfeit Captagon, a popular drug among affluent youths in the
Middle East particularly the Gulf.
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