Afif Diab - Beirut
The announcement of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last April to impose a ban on the entry or transportation of Lebanese fruits and vegetables through its lands due to an increase in drug smuggling in its shipments;
Questions about the issue of drug cultivation in Lebanon, its manufacture and smuggling, whose spread came as a result of the changing political, security and social conditions and the successive crises that the country is witnessing.
The scale of smuggling operations that were thwarted by the Lebanese security forces or those that were recently noticed by the Saudi authorities indicates the development of this phenomenon and its transformation into an integrated “industry” to which the security and economic conditions at home, especially on the Syrian border after the outbreak of the crisis in 2011, contributed. .
Historically, Lebanon was not far from "drugs" of all kinds and types. Since independence (1943), at least, Lebanon has been considered a fertile land for cultivation, manufacture, export and import, and a strategic crossing in the smugglers' literature, especially during the civil war period, and this industry developed up and down according to changes and crises.
In the record of the history of this cultivation, trafficking and smuggling in Lebanon, there are tales about the methods of defrauding the laws that deter it, and about the extent of the influence of its major farmers, traders and smugglers, within the Lebanese political, security and judicial systems throughout the pre-civil war eras (1975-1990) and specifically during it.
During the period of war and the security and political turmoil, militias took control of the areas of influence, and some of these groups became drug growers, manufacturers, traders or exporters, and these gangs became the final word in the revenues that drugs generate and pump money into the country’s economy.
The areas of the Bekaa Valley formed a fertile land for the cultivation of cannabis (Indian hemp) for decades (Al-Jazeera)
From scarcity to abundance
The cultivation of "Lebanese" drugs was limited between 1943 and 1975, and expanded a lot later, and gained wide fame for its history containing notorious stories, and even jokes stored in the memory of former traders and smugglers who retired from this sinful profession due to their advancing age, or because their influence declined in favor of smugglers. and other farmers.
These "Lebanese drugs" are described as the best in the world, especially "marijuana" or Indian hemp, as more than one former grower of this plant contacted by the author of the report.
The northern regions of the Bekaa Valley (eastern Lebanon) have been a fertile and traditional land for the cultivation of cannabis for decades.
One of the agricultural engineers in the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture (who preferred not to be named) said, "The fertility of the soil and the climate of the northern Bekaa Valley are two important factors for the cultivation of this plant, and they contributed to its universality and quality compared to what this cultivation produces in other countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Morocco."
He adds to Al Jazeera Net that the region's geography and its location between two high mountain ranges give a suitable climate for the cultivation of cannabis;
Precipitation rates, periods of sunshine, soil type, dry continental climate, cold in winter and hot in summer;
All of them are auxiliary factors that gave value to this Lebanese variety, whose cultivation and export flourished during the years of the civil war (1975-1990), and Lebanon became an exporter and transit country for various varieties after it had been importing them before that period.
Ibrahim Al-Shoubasi: Drug cultivation expanded in Lebanon after the civil war (Al Jazeera Net)
golden age
Investigative journalist Ibrahim Al-Shoubasi told Al-Jazeera Net that the first seed of Indian hemp arrived in Lebanon in 1930, as quantities of it were smuggled from India, and planted in a field in the Yamuna region (Northern Bekaa Valley) on the basis that it is a medicinal plant, and this cultivation remained limited after it was placed The French mandate took control of it, and established its own agency to benefit from this plant for medicinal purposes, and to limit purchases and sales.
According to Al-Shoubasi, this cultivation expanded later until the area of cultivation approached the equivalent of the areas of potato and wheat cultivation in the northern Lebanese Bekaa Valley, and the cultivated areas before 1979 reached between 120 and 150 thousand dunams (between 120 and 150 square kilometers), which were generating the equivalent of 3 billion dollars annually. , according to his estimates.
Al-Shoubasi added that with the intensification of the Lebanese civil war and the chaos it caused, the cultivation of drugs expanded, and opium entered as a new cultivation starting in 1980. This growth led to accusing the Syrian regime of protecting this activity, especially since its military and security forces were deployed under the so-called “forces of Arab deterrence" across the length and breadth of the Bekaa Valley.
Damascus was placed on the black list, forcing it to carry out campaigns to destroy fields planted with hashish and opium in populated areas, while the remote areas remained far from the destruction operations.
A previous report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Control confirms that Lebanon during its civil war was the main source of drugs in the Middle East, and was producing about 1,000 tons of hashish annually, and between 30 and 40 tons of opium.
In this context, Al-Shoubasi points out that the golden age of drugs in Lebanon - cultivation, manufacturing and smuggling - was during the civil war, when the armed militias that controlled the facilities and ports of the Lebanese state took over smuggling operations to Arab and European countries in exchange for obtaining weapons, ammunition and funds to fight their wars.
Following the Taif Agreement in 1990 and the cessation of the civil war, this agriculture and smuggling operations declined after the Lebanese state re-established its control over its institutions, disbanded the militias, and handed over their weapons to the Lebanese army.
The decline in the production and smuggling of marijuana in Lebanon was offset by the increase in the production of narcotic pills (Getty Images)
The end of the era of "Kif"
However, has Lebanon's production declined in the cultivation and smuggling of cannabis abroad, or has the star of narcotic pills become brighter and more profitable?
A prominent security official says to Al Jazeera Net (preferring not to reveal his name) that in the past ten years, the cultivation and smuggling of cannabis has relatively declined due to several factors, most notably the destruction of crops and the security restrictions on its manufacturers, promoters and smugglers, and its low prices compared to the prices of narcotic pills and the low cost of manufacturing them.
He explains that the cultivation of cannabis is during one season a year, but narcotic pills can be manufactured around the clock, and therefore the manufacturing and smuggling of these pills became active, and weed fell to the second place in terms of smuggling abroad.
In this context, Ibrahim Al-Shoubasi says that the “Captagon industry”, which was flourishing in Syria and smuggled to Lebanon and from it to other countries, does not need much trouble, as the cost of its production is low and smuggling is relatively easy, and it gives a financial return that is good, as the price of one tablet reaches up to About $5 in Arab countries, while the cost of manufacturing it does not exceed about half a dollar.
The Lebanese security official - who spoke to Al Jazeera Net and on condition that his name not be mentioned - does not hide the increased activities of the Syrian and Lebanese networks in smuggling narcotic pills, noting that the security authorities noticed this after the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011. It is reported that the Lebanese security services managed - for example - Of thwarting more than 90 major drug smuggling operations (opium and narcotic pills) during the past three years.
He continues that the Saudi authorities recently seized a shipment of narcotic pills in shipments of pomegranate imported from Lebanon, "which did not come from Lebanon, but from Syria."
He pointed out that Lebanon has, during the past two years, turned into a "transit" station for smuggling narcotic pills to Arab countries, most notably Saudi Arabia, and its source - according to him - is manufacturing factories inside Syrian territory with high production, and "it is the fruit of an illegal joint investment between Syrians, Lebanese, and even Saudis." ".
The Saudi authorities said that they had thwarted the smuggling of about 5 million Captagon pills hidden in a shipment of pomegranate sourced from Lebanon (communication sites)
Sources and crossings
Seizures of smuggling Captagon tablets and other types of narcotic substances have increased during the past two years, according to the security official, who adds that Afghan hemp, for example, is smuggled in large quantities to Arab countries and other countries in the Middle East, and that Afghan heroin is smuggled to Arab countries through Turkey. Iraq, in addition to smuggling routes that start from Afghanistan, Pakistan and southern Iran to Arab countries.
He continues that the fight against drugs - cultivation, manufacturing, promotion and smuggling - is a "global war", waged by hundreds of anti-drug agencies, in coordination with each other, noting that Lebanon has sent hundreds of security reports during the past three years to dozens of countries, especially Arab countries, which have succeeded. As a result, in the control of smuggling of contraband.
He reveals that what Syria has been witnessing since 2011 has led to the creation of safe areas for drug dealers and manufacturers, and consequently, an increase in smuggling, both in terms of quantity and quality.
Osama Al-Qadri: The large drug factories in the Bekaa enjoy political and security protection from the "de facto forces" (Al-Jazeera Net)
The growth of Captagon and the influence of its owners
The security official added that "the manufacturers, smugglers and importers of narcotic pills enjoy a strong influence within the security services in Syria, and they pay bribes in the process of organizing the smuggling of their narcotic pills to the destination countries." From a shipment of narcotic pills originating from Syria and its destination was Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.”
However, are Captagon pills manufactured only in Syria and Lebanon used as a transit gateway to other countries?
Investigative journalist Ibrahim Al-Shoubasi says that there are about 30 factories for the narcotic Captagon pills in Lebanon, and there are also cellars for manufacturing in Syria, but with the outbreak of the war there is a record of the escape of manufacturers and primitive manufacturing machines to the remote Lebanese border areas, where they began, in partnership with the Lebanese, to build grain factories estimated at about 30 labs.
According to Al-Shoubasi, the Lebanese security forces have raided and closed more than one factory for these grains in remote areas and even on the outskirts of Beirut, noting that the manufacture of Captagon in Lebanon has developed and witnessed growth starting in 2018, specifically, after importing advanced manufacturing devices and technologies specially brought from China. .
For his part, the press correspondent in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley, Osama Al-Qadri, says that the factories for the manufacture of narcotic Captagon pills spread quickly in the Bekaa region, and they are small in size and production compared to those described as one of the largest Captagon factories in the Middle East, and they are based on overlapping Lebanese-Syrian border areas. location for her work.
Al-Qadri reveals that these large factories enjoy political and security protection from what he called “de facto forces” in Lebanon, and among the senior security agencies of the Syrian regime. Al-Qadri expresses his belief that there are more than 30 small factories in the Bekaa region, and more than 70 medium and abundant factories In areas of Syria adjacent to the borders with Lebanon or overlapping geographically between the two countries, and therefore the security forces will remain unable to control these factors due to the ruggedness of these areas and the border confusion between the two countries.
Hikmat Sharif, a political activist in the city of Baalbek (east), believes that Captagon manufacturing operations in Lebanon have recorded great activity in the past ten years, adding in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that these pills "are not a local fad or skilled Lebanese experience in manufacturing and promotion, but rather those who carry them out from The Syrians, due to their manufacturing expertise, are known to those working in this scourge.”
Saudi Customs: Thwarting the smuggling of (5.3) million Captagon pills hidden in a “pomegranate” fruit from “#Lebanon.” https://t.co/mNuwaTovrE# Wass_Am pic.twitter.com/HxVA0NsX80
- SPAregions (@SPAregions) April 23, 2021
political consequences
This growth in the manufacture of Captagon in Lebanon and the benefit from the Syrian expertise in the "cooking, manufacturing and smuggling" business, put Lebanon in the ranks of the "advanced" Arab countries in the drug industry, and on the black list.
This quantitative and qualitative development was not without its political dimensions, placing partisan forces at the forefront of those accused of protecting this industry, at the forefront of whom is Hezbollah, to the point of accusing it of setting up its own factories to secure funding for its political projects, which the party always denies, considering this to be malicious propaganda with dimensions. political.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration and similar European and Arab offices accused the Lebanese Hezbollah in more than one report of being behind the manufacture and smuggling of drugs to finance its activities and actions.
Some Western and Arab reports say that manufacturers and smugglers of narcotic pills enjoy a strong influence with political figures close to Hezbollah or with influential figures in the Lebanese authority, and with Syrian armed groups (loyal and anti-regime) that provide security protection for these networks in exchange for their financing.
A senior Lebanese security official - contacted by Al Jazeera Net, who refused to reveal his name - says that the narcotic pill manufacturing plants in Lebanon are small in size and production compared to those in Syria or close to the border with Lebanon.
He pointed out that the Lebanese security authorities "dismantled during the past two years about 17 small factories in the Bekaa Valley, and that the number of detainees exceeded 200 people."
The security official added that the confrontation between the security forces and networks of drug manufacturing, promotion and smuggling of all kinds is underway around the clock.
He stressed that "our security and judicial investigations have not proven that there is evidence that Hezbollah or other parties are behind the drug networks," but he does not hide, on the other hand, that there are supporters or supporters of the party, or other parties, who take advantage of their advocacy to implement their projects by manufacturing and promoting narcotic pills, and exploiting their relations Personal with an official to carry out and protect their illegal activities without his knowledge.
The Baalbek-Hermel region is famous for the cultivation of the marijuana plant (Al-Jazeera)
and "But the political and security decision is clear and very strict to prevent such interventions, especially after Saudi Arabia prevented the export of agricultural products to it and its impact on the Lebanese national economy."
According to Saudi official data, the volume of Lebanese exports to Saudi Arabia amounted to 273.1 million riyals ($72.8 million) in the last quarter of 2020, while the value of fruit and vegetable exports is estimated at about $24 million, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture.
This official reveals that his country recently provided information to European and Arab parties that contributed to the seizure of drugs smuggled into Greece and Slovakia, and this operation was the result of Lebanese-Saudi-Greek cooperation, and the Lebanese security implemented in less than 10 months proactive security operations that achieved success in uncovering huge operations. drug smuggling, and some of them will be announced later, he says.
In summarizing his speech to Al Jazeera Net, the security official affirms, "We are doing our duty against this scourge, and we are not concerned with local or international accusations that are not based on irrefutable evidence. We, as security and judicial authorities in Lebanon, have not stopped confronting the manufacturing and smuggling of drugs of all kinds."
Fadi Abu Dayyeh: The accusations against Hezbollah are aimed at putting pressure on it and confronting what they consider its political project (Al Jazeera Net)
Political "injection"
However, why is the finger pointing at Hezbollah with being behind the drug manufacturing and smuggling operations?
The journalist, who is close to the party, Fadi Abu Dayyeh, says that they are "political injection operations to pressure the party, influence public opinion and incite it against the party and its resistance project and distort its image."
He adds to Al Jazeera Net that the accusations leveled against the party of standing behind the drug industry and smuggling it to Arab countries are "just political accusations, as Hezbollah does not need drug trafficking to finance its work and tasks, nor resort to any suspicious or illegal acts."
Abu Dayyeh says that the party religiously, politically and socially forbids the cultivation, manufacture or trafficking of drugs, and there is much evidence of this strict decision.
According to him, the party expelled more than one person on suspicion of growing hashish or manufacturing Captagon, and "handed over files to a large number of people suspected of drug trafficking, stressing that the judicial and security authorities in Lebanon know this very well."
For his part, Rameh Hamiyeh, a researcher in agricultural affairs and development in the Baalbek-Hermel region (northeast), says that drug cultivation and industry in Lebanon is not limited to one region in the country, or a specific social environment;
This agriculture, industry and trafficking extend - as he says - to the area of Lebanese geography, and a quick reading of the security forces' reports on their arrests, confiscations, and seizures of smuggling activities, gives a clear picture that workers in this illegal field come from all Lebanese social strata.
Vehicles belonging to the anti-narcotics forces of the Lebanese security remove hashish plants in the Bekaa Valley, eastern Lebanon (European)
fields of quality
According to the literature of drug growers in Lebanon, the sowing season for “cannabis” or hemp seeds begins in mid-March, and harvest takes place in the second half of September.
The areas planted with cannabis or marijuana in Lebanon are currently estimated at about 35,000 dunams (about 35 square kilometers) in different areas of the northern Bekaa Valley (eastern Lebanon).
The cost of planting one acre at the present time does not exceed $60.
The production of one dunum (irrigated) is estimated at between 2 and 3 quintals of hashish (a quintal is about 144 kg), while the production of one unirrigated dunam is estimated at about a quintal, and this is one of the best types of cannabis, and it is classified as one of the best in the world.
One quintal gives between 3 and 4 of what is known as “Al-Haqqa” (a unit of weight estimated at 1250 grams).
The price of the so-called “halt” of hashish (1250 grams) is about $40, or according to the exchange rate.
A photo published by the Saudi Anti-Narcotics Police of narcotic tablets seized from Lebanon (Saudi Press Agency)
Notable stations
April 2020: The Lebanese Parliament approves in a legislative session the law for the cultivation of cannabis (cannabis) for medicinal purposes, and this law allows the legalization of this cultivation, which is historically and geographically confined to the northern Bekaa Valley (east of the country).
March 2020: The Internal Security Forces announce that they have thwarted the largest drug smuggling operation in the country's history, after seizing 25 tons of hashish loaded in 8 trucks on their way to the port of Beirut, and from there to African countries.
April 2021: The Saudi authorities announce the seizure of more than 5 million Captagon pills in the port of Jeddah, stuffed with a shipment of pomegranate fruit coming from Lebanon.
April 2021: Saudi Arabia announces a ban on the import of fruits and vegetables from Lebanon.
April 2021: The Lebanese security forces announce the seizure of 11 kilograms of cocaine at Beirut airport, sourced from Brazil.
May 2021: The Internal Security Forces in Lebanon announce the seizure of more than 3,500 envelopes and plastic boxes containing drugs in a professional manner and prepared for local promotion.
- May 2021: Lebanese security forces seize about 4 tons of hashish in the port of Sidon (south), which were intended for export by sea to Egypt.
June 2021: The Saudi authorities announce the seizure of more than 14.4 million Captagon pills hidden inside iron plates, which they said came from Lebanon.
June 2021: The Lebanese authorities announce the seizure of a quantity of Captagon pills at Beirut airport, which were intended to be smuggled to Saudi Arabia, hidden inside electric water pumps.
June 2021: The Lebanese security authorities arrest 3 Lebanese people in connection with the Captagon smuggling operation in the shipment of pomegranate fruit to Saudi Arabia.
June 2021: A drug storage warehouse (Baz Cocaine, Cocaine, Hashish, Silvia, Kanakimo, Carisol, Tramadol) was raided and the security authorities described it as the main warehouse for drug traffickers in the Beirut and Mount Lebanon regions.
Ziad Al-Rahbani was exposed in his artworks with Mrs. Fairouz or solo to the failure of the authorities to address the issue of drug cultivation (Al-Jazeera)
"Kif" in art and singing
As a remarkable social phenomenon, drug cultivation and trafficking in Lebanon entered the musical and theatrical works during the seventies of the last century.
The popularity of this cultivation and the failure of the authorities to prevent and limit it encouraged large farmers and traders to invent methods and mechanisms of smuggling out of Lebanon.
In 1972, a former senior farmer in the Bekaa Valley succeeded in using the runway of an old airport in the area dating back to the French Mandate era and lighting it at night to secure a safe landing for a plane loaded with about 400 kilograms of hashish and landed at Athens airport. And take off the plane.
This specific operation constituted a scandal for the Lebanese authorities at that time, and complex security and judicial investigations were opened, and the organizer of the operation was arrested and imprisoned, but he managed to escape after paying bribes to the guards.
This incident turned into a singing scene for the Rahbani brothers and Mrs. Fairouz, in the play "Al Mahatta", which was shown on stage in Beirut in 1973, and the song bore the title "In the country, everything becomes possible," and one of its clips says:
We have an easy (easy) behind the house
At night, it became an airport
They are coming to the planes
A unit that covers (landing) and a unit that flies
In this country, everything becomes…”
ولم يقتصر التهكم على إخفاق السلطات في ضبط ومنع زراعة المخدرات والإتجار بها على هذه الأغنية، بل عبّر الفنان المسرحي والمؤلف الموسيقي زياد الرحباني في أعماله المسرحية والإذاعية عن سخريته اللاذعة من فشل السلطات في إيجاد بدائل عن زراعة المخدرات في سهل البقاع.
كما نظمت لحشيشة "الكيف" اللبنانية أغنيات عدة تحمل في مضامينها دعمًا أو ذمًّا أو قدحًا ساخرا، كأغنية "دورها دور" لعائلة بندلي الموسيقية. ولاقت هذه الأغنية رواجا شعبيا كبيرا إلى حد أنها وصفت بـ"نشيد الحشاشيين"، وهي لا تزال تبث منذ مطلع الثمانينيات في الإذاعات اللبنانية.