The Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced on Thursday that they seized a shipment on November 30, 2023, which was carrying substances for the manufacturing of drugs and was about to leave the port of Beirut, bound for Australia.
According to the press release, raw materials used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine, the primary ingredient for the production of Captagon and narcotic tablets, were concealed inside 3,789 bottles of orange blossom water. The shipment weighed a total of 3.5 tons (7,000 lbs), including 410 kgs (about 904 lbs) of methamphetamine.
On December 2, 2023, the ISF announced the arrest of three members of the network that orchestrated the smuggling operation in Akkar: two Lebanese nationals, G.B. (born in 1972) and R.A. (born in 1982), and a Syrian, M.A. (born in 1998).
The empty barrels used to store methamphetamine were finally seized on December 6 from the gas station warehouse of the first detainee in Jisr Arka.
During the interrogation, the detainees confessed to the offenses. They were handed over to the competent authorities, who are reportedly “continuing efforts to arrest other people involved.”