Lebanese Customs seizes 70 kg of cocaine, $1.8 million in cash at Beirut airport

Lebanon’s General Directorate of Customs announced the seizure of approximately 70 kilograms of cocaine coming from Ghana, according to their statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency (NNA) on Monday.

In a separate incident, customs also intercepted nearly 1.8 million Australian dollars at Rafik Hariri International Airport (RHIA), the airport reported on Monday.

A Customs statement, cited by NNA, highlights that on Nov. 26, “the service became suspicious of a shipment arriving from Ghana to Lebanon via air freight at Beirut–Rafik Hariri International Airport, weighing about 600 kilograms. The shipment was declared as coconut oil, imported in plastic bottles packed in 40 cartons.”

The statement said “it was therefore referred to the inspection department, which examined it and investigated its contents,” adding that “based on the initial examination, the shipment was seized.”

Read also:

How Lebanon became a regional Captagon hub

According to the statement, “the Customs Anti-Narcotics and Anti-Money Laundering Unit was tasked with completing the inquiries and investigations and selected samples were taken and sent to the Central Criminal Laboratories of the Internal Security Forces [ISF], where tests revealed that they contained cocaine.”

It added that “the seized goods were confiscated and handed over, along with the official report, to the Central Anti-Narcotics Office to complete the investigations and uncover all those involved, under the supervision of the competent judiciary.”

Australian nationals attempted to bring in the money illegally

Separately, Customs said, according to NNA, that they “succeeded in foiling an attempt to illegally bring nearly 1.8 million Australian dollars [approximately $ 1.188 million] into Lebanon involving Australian nationals.”

The report said “the Australians were arrested, and the seized funds were handed over to the Financial Crimes Bureau to carry out the necessary legal procedures under the supervision of the competent judiciary.”

The ISF announced at the end of November the seizure of a vehicle that arrived from Europe containing a significant quantity of cocaine and ecstasy.

The interception was carried out in coordination with Saudi Arabia's General Directorate for Drug Control, which has, in the past, cooled its relations with Lebanon over its failure to curb the flow of drugs through Lebanon toward the Gulf.

In September, Lebanese authorities announced they had dismantled an international drug trafficking network and stopped a shipment of hashish and Captagon pills to Saudi Arabia.

The Lebanese Army also announced in mid-September that it had seized around 64 million Captagon pills in the Bekaa, noting that it was one of the largest operations ever carried out against this drug in Lebanon.