A person spokes an electronic cigarette. (AFP file photo)
BEIRUT — The Régie Libanaise de Tabacs et Tombacs, Lebanon’s tobacco authority, said in a statement Thursday that it had carried out a number of raids in southern Lebanon, seizing smuggled tobacco products and electronic (vape) cigarettes.
Here’s what we know:
• The raids took place in the South Lebanon and Nabatieh governorates, including in Saida, Ghazieh, Sarafand, Ghassaniyeh, Iba, Qasaiba, Qaqaa al-Jisr, Nabatieh and a number of villages, according to the statement, which was published in the state-run National News Agency.
• The statement did not clarify when exactly the raids took place, or how many items were seized.
• Prices of tobacco products in Lebanon have risen in recent years amid the financial crisis, more than tripling from 2021 to 2022, according to the most recent report from June published by Lebanon’s Central Administration of Statistics.