Woman arrested in Arabsalim (Nabatieh) for her alleged involvement in smuggling cancer medications through Beirut International Airport and selling them on the black market. (Credit: ISF)
BEIRUT — A woman was arrested in Arabsalim (Nabatieh) on Monday for her alleged involvement in smuggling cancer medications through Beirut Rafic Hariri Airport and selling them on the black market, Internal Security Forces (ISF) announced Thursday.
The 1985-born Lebanese suspect was arrested Monday under a search and investigation warrant for fraud, along with four warrants related to fraud and causing death, linked to a scheme involving the brother of Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil, the ISF said.
"Information became available to the Southern suburbs of Beirut Judicial Branch of the Judicial Police Unit regarding the presence of a woman considered one of the main suspects in the case, in the town of Arabsalim," the ISF statement explained.
"In coordination with the Nabatieh Judicial Branch, a patrol from this branch arrested her at her residence in the aforementioned town, after she had been in hiding for approximately seven months. The necessary legal procedures were carried out against her, based on the instructions of the competent judiciary," the ISF concluded.
The initials and timing of the arrest of the woman in Arabsalim, Z.C., match those of the accomplice of Khalil's brother's ex-wife who was involved in medicine smuggling and who has an arrest warrant against her since June.
L'Orient Today reached out to the ISF for further comment on the matter, but did not receive a comment at the time of publication of this article.
Smuggling grew with the worsening of the 2019 financial crisis, which led to severe difficulties in accessing foreign currency, making the importation of medicines challenging.
'American sponsorship is a guarantee,' says Lebanese-American coordination committee