A man holds a small bag of cocaine. (Credit: Eitan Abramovich/AFP)
BEIRUT — Lebanon's Internal Security Forces arrested the suspected head of a network smuggling illicit drugs from South America to Lebanon, the ISF said in a statement Wednesday.
The network's leader, named only by his initials S.M., and his brother, A.M., were arrested in Antelias, north of Beirut, on March 17, according to the statement.
S.M. reportedly confessed that he is "heading a drug smuggling network from some South American countries to Lebanon and that he was in the process of smuggling two shipments of cocaine from Chile to Lebanon."
The first shipment consisted of "505 [grams] of cocaine hidden in two CDs," while the second shipment consisted of "754 [grams] of cocaine hidden in two books," transported in parcels and shipped using a cargo shipping company, according to the ISF statement. It was unclear how the smugglers allegedly hid the drugs inside CDs.
The ISF added that both shipments had been seized by Chilean authorities.
S.M. also reportedly told the ISF that he has been smuggling cocaine from Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia and Brazil to Lebanon since 2005, through so-called "mules" or postal parcels.
"When the shipments arrive in Lebanon, he sells them to Lebanese drug dealers," the statement said.
The ISF added that the alleged smuggler and his brother sold around 1.5 kilograms of cocaine in a Gulf country this month and that work was underway to arrest other suspects in their drug network.
Lebanese authorities have been ramping up efforts in recent months to fight the production and trafficking of drugs, especially Captagon, in response to criticism from the Gulf monarchies denouncing the country as a trafficking hub.
In late January, the ISF said that it had arrested two Brazilian "mules" who had ingested cocaine in an alleged attempt to traffick the substance into Lebanon. The police intercepted the alleged traffickers upon arrival at the Beirut international airport and seized the drugs.