Army carries out major drug bust in Yammouneh, Jaafar clan member killed

BEKAA — The Lebanese Army carried out an operation targeting drug traffickers in the Bekaa on Friday, during which it reportedly used a drone to launch one strike in which one person was killed.

According to two security sources and a local resident who spoke to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the Bekaa, a Lebanese Army drone launched a missile in Dar al-Wassaa, near Yammouneh, in Baalbeck district, an area known for having numerous cannabis fields. Cannabis is illegal in Lebanon, although its legalization is currently under consideration.

The victim of the drone strike was a man identified as Hassan Abbas Jaafar, whose nickname was "the Beast" and who was a member of the Jaafar clan, which is reportedly involved in the drug trade in the Bekaa. Two other Jaafar clan members were injured, according to the same sources.

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Lebanese army 'arrests dangerous individuals'

In a statement published Friday around 4 p.m., the army acknowledged having launched “a series of security operations aimed at arresting dangerous individuals, by army units supported by the Intelligence Directorate.”

The statement does not mention the strike, but refers to “raids” and exchanges of gunfire with people “who opened fire on the soldiers.” The army stated that a “citizen named H.J., wanted for multiple crimes, attacks on army posts and patrols, killing soldiers, forming gangs for arms and drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery and shootings,” was killed by soldiers responding to shots fired at them during the operation.

“The investigation has been opened under the supervision of the competent judicial authority,” the army said.

Around the same time as the statement was released, L'Orient Today learned that authorities had called on residents to avoid the road linking the coast to Baalbeck via Iaat due to ongoing clashes in Dar al-Wassaa, and that the army had sent reinforcements to the area. The army had also closed all access points to the city of Baalbeck, using barricades and armored vehicles and deploying heavily to monitor traffic.

The Lebanese Army and security services have intensified their crackdowns on illegal drug trade in recent months under pressure from Gulf countries as well as the United States, which seeks to cut off money supply to Hezbollah. A U.S. Treasury delegation is currently visiting Lebanon to meet officials and representatives of the banking sector.

A week ago, the army reported destroying about 7,000 square meters of cannabis plantations in the village of Zarazir, Baalbeck region. Earlier this month, in the same area, the army killed, also by drone strike, Ali Mounzer Zeaiter, known as Abu Salleh, one of the country’s most wanted drug traffickers, who hailed from a clan rival to the Jaafars.