Individuals arrested for drug trafficking, June 5, 2023. (Credit: official website of the Internal Security Forces)
BEIRUT — A Syrian man was killed and a Palestinian man was wounded on Saturday after an exchange of fire with Lebanese police in Choueifat, south of Beirut. Both individuals were drug trafficking suspects, the Internal Security Forces reported on Monday.
A unit of the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Judicial Police carried out an operation in Choueifat on Saturday and arrested several individuals caught "red handed" during a drug trafficking operation, the ISF statement read. At least seven people were involved in this incident: four Lebanese, aged 23 and 56, two Palestinians aged 25 and 28, and a Syrian aged 17.
Another Syrian man "fired shots in the direction of the police, who returned fire," wounding and killing the man in question, the police statement said. One of the two Palestinians at the scene was wounded and hospitalized.
The police also seized 1,153 envelopes containing various kinds of drugs, "a large sum of money," cell phones and the pistol used to shoot the police. Three motorcycles and a car used by the criminals were also seized. An investigation has been opened.