Bashar al-Assad’s cousin arrested in Baalbeck drug trafficking case

The Lebanese Army arrested Sleiman Hilal al-Assad, a cousin of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, on Thursday during a raid targeting a suspected drug trafficking network in the Baalbeck area of the northern Bekaa Valley.

Two security sources and a judicial source told our correspondent that several people were arrested, including the son of detained drug lord Nouh Zeaiter. The son is also wanted for firing automatic weapons.

The judicial source told L’Orient-Le Jour that the arrests followed a warehouse search. Those detained are being questioned by army intelligence. Once its investigation is complete, army intelligence will inform the public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, who may task the Anti-Narcotics Bureau with continuing the questioning and investigation.

According to Saudi news outlets Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath, Syrian authorities have asked Beirut to hand over Sleiman Hilal al-Assad. He is suspected of involvement in killings in Syria and drug trafficking originating there. A judicial source familiar with the matter said Ahmad Hajj, the public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, had not yet been notified of any Syrian extradition request concerning al-Assad.

The arrest comes as Lebanon and Syria have reopened discussions on prosecuting officials from the former Assad regime, which was ousted in December 2024. Several former officials are believed to have taken refuge in Lebanon after Ahmad al-Sharaa came to power.

In August, Lebanese authorities agreed to hand over Adel Issa, a former general in Bashar al-Assad’s army, to their Syrian counterparts. Damascus accuses him of “crimes against humanity.”

Reporting by our correspondent in the Bekaa, Sarah Abdallah