Army Uncovers Drugs Facility, Arrests 69 Criminals as Syria Ups Security Along Border
A military operation in eastern Lebanon uncovered Wednesday a major drugs factory and netted 69 fugitives as Syrian troops were deployed along the border to prevent the infiltration of suspects behind the death of four Lebanese soldiers.
The factory, in the town of Housh Barada in Baalbek, was being used to "synthesize drugs and large quantities of processed and unprocessed illegal substances. At least 1500 kilograms of drugs were also confiscated in other raids the Bekaa," the army said in a statement.
The army also seized large arms caches, forged currencies in addition to 13 stolen vehicles, including a silver-colored Grand Cherokee that was used in Monday”s fatal attack on the military convoy.
The statement said that 69 detainees are wanted for committing a wide range of crimes.
An Nahar daily said Wednesday that the official decision of Lebanese authorities "is to go ahead till the end in punishing the culprits."
President Michel Suleiman met with army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji in Baabda Palace on Wednesday. The two men discussed the army”s raids in the Bekaa.
The president praised the army and stressed the need to continue the raids and track down the criminals.
An Nahar reported that Hizbullah and Amal movement informed Lebanese authorities that they "do not provide any political cover for the fugitives."
The Bekaa valley”s northern part has for decades been notoriously lawless, with Shiite clans holding sway. It is also a Hizbullah stronghold.
The army is hunting down suspected drug lords behind the killing of four soldiers. On Monday, assailants raked an army convoy with bullets and blasted it with a grenade killing the troops and critically wounding an officer, in an apparent drugs-related ambush in the Bekaa.
The four soldiers were laid to rest in their hometowns on Tuesday.
Speaking after a tour of military bases in the northern Bekaa Tuesday, Qahwaji said he was committed to capturing the perpetrators.
"Yesterday”s (Monday”s) attack against the army is a form of terrorism that the whole nation has condemned," he said.
"Lebanon”s support of the military institution is evidence that it despises these acts and trusts the military," he added.
An Nahar said that the names of eight people who carried out the attack were available.
On Tuesday, the military arrested 35 fugitives and killed a man and injured another after they ignored orders to stop.
Media reports also said that the army carried out a raid in the town of Majdel Anjar and arrested a fugitive. But unknown assailants threw a concussion bomb on the army patrol and helped the criminal escape. Two people were lightly injured.