Minister of the Interior Ahmad Hajjar (center), during a press conference in Baabda on Sept. 10, 2025. (Credit: @LBpresidency/X)
BEIRUT — Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar said Wednesday that he had informed President Joseph Aoun about recent anti-drug smuggling operations in Lebanon, emphasizing "cooperation" with Arab countries on this front.
“The president of the Republic praised the efforts made by the Judicial Police and the Narcotics Control Brigade, as well as the major successes achieved in seizing quantities of drugs and banned substances,” the minister said, in comments cited by the state-run National News Agency. Hajjar also made note of "total and ongoing" cooperation with other Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
“We will continue to fight drugs and all banned substances, with the hope of eradicating this scourge," Hajjar said. "We will not allow these substances to destroy our society or those of brotherly countries, particularly the Gulf countries."
Hajjar made these remarks after a meeting in Baabda with Aoun, attended by several security officials, including the director general of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), the head of the Judicial Police, the head of the Criminal Investigations Division, and the head of the Central Narcotics Control Office.
During that meeting, Aoun named the "fight against drugs" and a priority, citing its affect on "Lebanese society as a whole." Aoun called on civilians to assist authorities in identifying traffickers and called on judicial authorities to be "firm in their judgements."
Lebanese authorities have recently doubled their efforts to crack down on drug trafficking, which has been at the heart of a diplomatic crisis with Gulf countries in recent years.
In the past few weeks, officials have announced a series of measures, operations, and seizures, notably at the port of Tripoli, where 125 kilograms of cocaine were seized — “the largest quantity of cocaine ever smuggled” into Lebanon, worth $15 million.
Over the summer, several travelers who had smuggled drug capsules by ingesting them were arrested at Beirut international airport. Authorities also thwarted an attempt to send Captagon hidden in furniture to Saudi Arabia, and the Lebanese army recently announced it had dismantled a major Captagon pill factory — a synthetic drug — in Yammouneh, in Baalbeck district.
