By Nohad Topalian | 2025-08-25

BEIRUT -- Lebanon's army has recently been delivering what experts describe as a devastating blow to Captagon smuggling networks that have generated millions in illicit funds for Iran-backed groups while flooding the region with a stimulant that fuels addiction and finances terrorism.

The army killed three of the country's most dangerous drug traffickers in an armed confrontation near Baalbek on August 6.

The operation eliminated Abu Salleh and al-Sultan, known by their aliases, and a third kingpin during a vehicle pursuit in the Sharawneh area.

The men faced charges including murder of soldiers, kidnapping, and poisoning thousands of Lebanese youth through drug trafficking, ending years-long manhunts for criminals who had terrorized local communities.

"They were among the most wanted and dangerous drug traffickers," the Lebanese Army stated, noting they repeatedly attacked army posts and patrols.

One suspect faced 115 arrest warrants and had orchestrated the 2023 kidnapping of a Saudi citizen in Beirut, judicial officials told the Associated Press.

The confrontation represents Lebanon's most aggressive campaign yet against criminal networks exploiting the country's porous border with Syria.

Just weeks earlier, in mid-July, Lebanese forces working with Iraqi authorities seized what the Iraqi Security Cell described as the largest Captagon laboratory in the Middle East, located in the Bekaa Valley.

That operation was seen by experts as evidence of growing regional coordination against the narcotics trade.

Crumbling empire

The eliminated kingpins operated within a broader network where larger players, including Hizbullah, had turned Lebanon's border regions into hubs for drug production and smuggling.

The Iran-backed group built an empire of labs and tunnels that provided crucial funding for its military operations, experts told Al-Fassel.

Those border areas contain Captagon factories "protected by Hizbullah," security expert Naji Malaeb told Al-Fassel.

The group has weaponized Lebanese territory, turning it into a launch pad for drug exports, he said.

"Lebanon has paid a reputational price because of it," Malaeb added.

Beyond the damage to the country's image, he noted that the networks have undermined Lebanon's economic stability.

Addressing this crisis requires dismantling these networks and confronting Hizbullah's stranglehold on border areas, according to the regional analysts.

Youssef Diab, a journalist specializing in security affairs, emphasized that the drug trade has been a major source of income for "Hizbullah, the manufacturer, and for the Bashar al-Assad regime, which facilitated smuggling through Syrian territory."

The army's actions disrupted Hizbullah's key funding sources, particularly as international sanctions have curtailed Iranian support, he told Al-Fassel.

Diab described the operations as a "new phase" in wresting state sovereignty from Hizbullah's parallel authority where lawlessness once prevailed.

The Lebanese military now aims to secure the borders with Syria and Israel, maintain internal security against groups threatening civil peace, and dismantle organized crime networks that operated under Hizbullah's cover, he said.