In a security achievement considered the largest of its kind in the history of Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, the Lebanese security and customs services thwarted an attempt to smuggle about 47 kilograms of cocaine that arrived in Beirut from Ghana on a Middle East Airlines flight.
This operation comes at a time when official efforts are intensifying to strengthen control over Lebanese crossings and prevent their use as a corridor for illegal activities, amid government emphasis on continuing to pursue smuggling networks, and tightening security and customs procedures at various land, sea and air ports.
The General Directorate of Customs announced, in a statement, that “The Customs Administration, in cooperation with the General Directorate of Public Security, foiled, on the night of Saturday, October 31, 2026, a massive smuggling operation that is considered the largest drug case in the history of Rafik Hariri International Airport, which resulted in the seizure of a shipment of cocaine weighing 46,700 kilograms, in the possession of the Syrian traveler “B.” H., coming from Accra, Ghana, on Middle East Airlines flight 576.
She explained that “the seizure process came as a result of security monitoring and follow-up, followed by field coordination at the customs point, where the traveler’s luggage was subjected to inspection, and forty packages of cocaine were found hidden in a professional and complex manner, using packaging and insulation methods prepared with the intention of camouflaging and preventing their detection by scanning devices.” Electronic tracking devices were also seized inside the parcels.
The Directorate revealed that “preliminary investigations showed that the detainee had entered Lebanon through the Masnaa crossing weeks ago, then left for Accra to return carrying the seized shipment, indicating that he was assigned the task of transporting and delivering it as part of an organized smuggling operation.”
She added that investigations and follow-ups are continuing to determine the identity of the person who was supposed to receive the shipment in a specific place, and to expand the investigation to reveal the parties behind its sending, transporting and receiving it, and to identify and prosecute all those involved.
At the official level, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam congratulated the General Directorate of Public Security and Lebanese Customs for their success in thwarting an attempt to smuggle 47 kilograms of cocaine through Rafic Hariri International Airport, praising the coordination, cooperation and exchange of information between the two agencies, which led to the success of the operation.
Salam stressed that “Lebanon’s land, sea and air crossings will not be a corridor for drug smuggling, money laundering, or any illegal activities,” stressing that “the government is continuing to strengthen control over the crossings, intensify coordination between the concerned agencies, and combat smuggling networks and organized crime.”
For his part, Finance Minister Yassine Jaber praised “the effective coordination between the Customs Administration and the General Directorate of Public Security, which resulted in the largest drug seizure in the history of Rafic Hariri International Airport,” stressing “the importance of enhancing cooperation and exchanging information between the agencies to protect Lebanon and the safety of society.”
About a week ago, gunmen killed two police officers affiliated with the Hamas government and wounded others with varying injuries during a mission in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip to arrest a wanted person, then they fled in an incident that was not the first of its kind.
According to field sources who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat, it became clear hours after the incident that the gunmen headed to areas where armed gangs were deployed east of Deir al-Balah. The sources say that the areas of armed gangs in the Gaza Strip, which are mainly spread in parts under the control of the Israeli forces that occupy about 70 percent of the area of the Strip, have turned into a safe haven for perpetrators of crimes, especially those who kill security personnel.
In the most recent of these prosecutions, a number of police officers were killed on Sunday during their deployment in the areas south of Mawasi Khan Yunis when an Israeli drone attacked them while they were carrying out their mission. Which claimed the lives of five of them, including Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad al-Jamal and Major Bassam Muqdam. In addition, 6 others, including civilians, were injured with varying injuries.
A Lebanese ministerial delegation to Damascus, on Monday, is carrying files in which security and border concerns overlap with the burdens of displacement and prison issues. It aims to evaluate the cooperation achieved between the two countries and determine the next steps. Starting from organizing the Syrian presence in Lebanon, to facilitating the return of displaced people, and pursuing drug and extremist networks.
The delegation is headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Mitri, and includes the Ministers of Interior Ahmed Al-Hajjar, Minister of Labor Muhammad Haidar, Minister of Education Rima Karami, and Minister of Social Affairs Haneen Al-Sayyid. The visit allows for expanded meetings with Syrian officials, and bilateral meetings between ministers and their counterparts, to discuss the files that fall within the jurisdiction of each of them, allowing procedural details to be discussed in addition to the general topics of cooperation.
