Lebanon Denies NACOC Claim of Joint Role in Beirut Airport Largest Cocaine Bust

Lebanese authorities have rejected Ghana’s Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) claim that the seizure of 46.7 kilograms of cocaine at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport resulted from collaboration between Lebanese and Ghanaian authorities, insisting the operation was a Lebanese-led interdiction.

The General Directorate of Customs said on Sunday that it had foiled, in cooperation with Lebanon’s General Security, a major smuggling operation on Saturday involving 46.7 kilograms of cocaine, described as the largest drug bust in the history of Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport.

In its account, Customs made no mention of Ghanaian participation, instead crediting coordination between Lebanese agencies.

The drugs were found in the possession of a Syrian passenger identified by his initials, B.H., who had arrived from Accra, Ghana, aboard Middle East Airlines flight MEA 576.

According to the Lebanese statement, the passenger’s luggage was searched and revealed 40 packages of cocaine concealed using sophisticated methods and complex packaging and insulation materials designed to evade detection by scanning equipment. Electronic tracking devices were also found inside the packages.

Preliminary investigations showed that the suspect had entered Lebanon through the Masnaa border crossing several weeks earlier, before travelling to Accra and returning with the seized shipment, suggesting he had been tasked with transporting and delivering the drugs as part of an organized smuggling operation, Customs said.

The suspect was arrested, and authorities said they were continuing investigations to identify the individual who was supposed to receive the shipment at a designated location.

Contradiction
The Lebanese account directly contradicts NACOC’s claim that the arrest was the product of Lebanese-Ghanaian collaboration.

By emphasizing that the operation was carried out with General Security and built on Lebanese investigative work, Lebanese authorities sought to frame the bust as a domestic security success rather than a jointly credited international operation.

Commendation
Following the Customs statement, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam congratulated the General Security and Lebanese Customs on foiling the smuggling attempt, praising the coordination, cooperation and information-sharing between the two Lebanese agencies that led to the successful operation, according to a statement released by the Grand Serail on X.

Salam stressed that Lebanon’s land, sea and air border crossings “would not serve as conduits for drug smuggling, money laundering or any other illegal activities,” and reaffirmed that the government “would continue to strengthen border controls, intensify coordination between the relevant agencies and combat smuggling networks and organized crime.”