Travelers at Beirut international airport. (Credit: AFP/File photo)
The Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced on Thursday the arrest of two Brazilian "mules" who had ingested cocaine in an alleged attempt to traffic the substance into Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported.
"The anti-drugs office received information that two people of Brazilian nationality had smuggled a certain amount of cocaine into Lebanon, after swallowing it," a statement from the ISF said.
The alleged traffickers were intercepted upon arrival at the Beirut international airport, the ISF added, describing the pair as a man, with the initials A.K., born in 1997, and a woman, with the initials G.N., born in 1992.
The police said they seized 2 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside 156 capsules, and another 149 grams hidden in an oval-shaped container.
The cocaine was "extracted from the body [of the traffickers] through internationally recognized methods and under the supervision of the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Medical Center," the statement added.
The Lebanese authorities have been stepping up their efforts for months in the fight against the production and trafficking of drugs, especially captagon, in response to criticism from the Gulf monarchies, which denounce Lebanon's status as a hub for this kind of trafficking.
Ten days ago, the Lebanese army succeeded in dismantling a drug trafficking network following a raid in the neighborhood of Burj Barajneh in the southern suburbs of Beirut.