On the second floor of Beirut airport, representatives of the various branches of the security apparatus cross paths, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L’Orient-Le Jour)
The Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced Saturday the arrest at Beirut airport of a Brazilian national who attempted to smuggle cocaine by swallowing 133 capsules for a total of 1.8 kg of the substance.
"As part of joint cooperation with Qatari authorities, the Central Anti-Narcotics Bureau received information regarding a 42-year-old Lebanese man who was attempting to smuggle narcotic substances into Lebanon after swallowing capsules," the police said in a statement, noting that the man had arrived from Brazil on a Qatar Airways flight and was scheduled to land on the mentioned date.
"A bureau patrol was dispatched to the airport, where the suspect was apprehended," the statement added. "A search of his luggage did not reveal any prohibited substances, but during his interrogation, the individual admitted to having swallowed a quantity of cocaine capsules. It was then confirmed that he had ingested 133 capsules for a total weight of approximately 1,800 grams of the substance," the ISF reported.
On Friday, airport police announced they had seized 20 kg of Captagon tablets in the luggage of four Turkish nationals who were heading to Kuwait.
The Lebanese Army recently announced it had dismantled a major Captagon tablet factory in Yammoun, in the Baalbeck region, describing it as "one of the largest factories seized to date."
