Army Arrests Scores of Suspects and Seizes Stolen Cars, Huge Amount of Drugs in Major Crackdown in Bekaa
Lebanese army troops on Monday launched a major crackdown on car thieves and drug dealers in east Lebanon”s Bekaa Valley and found a large weapons and drug depot. At least 15 suspects were arrested and scores of weapons-laden cars were confiscated.
The arms depot was discovered during a raid on the house of Nouh Zoaiter in the Bekaa town of Kneisseh.
Zoaiter is wanted by Lebanese authorities on 540 arrest warrants.
Army troops surrounded Kneisseh as well as villages in and around Baalbek, setting up checkpoints.
The Lebanese army used helicopter gunships to chase suspects who tried to escape.
At midday, press reports said gunmen in four cars intercepted two police vehicles on the main Baalbek-Beit Shama road. There were conflicting reports, however, as to whether the gunmen were able to abduct three policemen who were inside one of the vehicles.
One news report said armed men got into one of the vehicles and chased the policemen. A while later, a Lebanese army patrol found the vehicle in the barren foothills of Baalbek.
The Voice of Lebanon radio station said blood was found inside the vehicle which was also hit by dozens of bullets, an indication that a confrontation took place between policemen and gunmen.
The search operation, which began at 4:00 am Monday, continued well into the day and expanded to include the towns of Riha and Dar al-Waseh in the northern Bekaa.
A Lebanese army communiqué said several wanted persons have been arrested in the crackdown.
Twenty-two stolen cars were also confiscated as well as 50 medium-range rifles in addition to ammunition and anti-vehicle mines, the statement added.
It said a large amount of drugs estimated at 10 truckloads of hashish and heroin was also seized in addition to 100 kilograms of cocaine.
Voice of Lebanon, however, said the military was able to arrest 15 wanted men.
Army troops last week arrested an undisclosed number of criminals in a major raid on hideouts in the Bekaa town of Brital.
An army communiqué at the time said some suspects, including car thieves, smugglers of weapons and other illegal items, remain at large in the remote mountains and a hunt is underway by troops.