Lebanon: Existence of organized crime in Lebanon, its involvement in the production of narcotics and drug trafficking, government actions to combat organized crime

According to a 2 February 2001 paper entitled "History of the Drug Traffic in Lebanon and Syria" written by Dr. Jihad René Albani, a spokesman for the Guardians of the Cedars in France, Lebanon has been, since 1976, an international centre of drugs, due to the influence and interference of Syria in the internal administration of Lebanon. The paper also states that

all the Lebanese and Syrian traffickers live peacefully and all have held, or are still holding, key positions in Lebanon and Syria.

The drug traffic has many benefits for Syria and its leaders, and is also a means of control over internal Lebanese politics, because most of the Lebanese military are or were implicated in this drug traffic (Albani 2 Feb. 2001)

In his conclusion, Dr. Albani states that

according to the American administration, Syria and Lebanon were removed from the list of countries trafficking in drugs because these two countries aren't included among the big producers of drugs. Technically, a country that traffics in drugs is a country that cultivates annually 5,000 or more hectares of illegal cannabis (marijuana) or 1,000 hectares of opium or coca. And effectively, this definition doesn't apply anymore to Lebanon nor to Syria. But the Americans don't take into account the laboratories that prepare the heroin before it is exported. Furthermore, the Americans think that the "made in Lebanon" drug does not really affect the American market as do the drugs from Latin America countries (ibid).

A June 2001 Middle East Intelligence Bulletin (MEIB) report quotes a 1999 press release from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) which stated that Lebanon has evolved over the years from a drug producing to a regional drug transit country and that bank secrecy laws were highly instrumental in the laundering of drug money in Lebanon. The report also states that

despite this, the US State Department removed Lebanon and Syria from its list of major drug-producing countries and drug transit countries. A March 2001 State Department report stated flatly that "Lebanon is not a major illicit drug producing or drug-transit country" and declared that there is "practically no laboratory processing" or drugs in the country (MEIB June 2001).

A 5 October 2000 MEIB report states that although drug production has significantly decreased since the late 1980's and early 1990's, Lebanon has become "a centre for trafficking, transhipment and money laundering."

The Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) annual report for 2000 states that

In Lebanon, bank secrecy in cases involving drug traffickers has not been lifted yet. Under the current legal framework in Lebanon, it is extremely difficult to investigate money-laundering and it is virtually impossible to confiscate assets of drug traffickers (21 Feb. 2000).

However, in April 2001, a law passed in the Lebanese parliament against money laundering authorizes the Lebanese government to freeze bank accounts suspected of being connected to terrorist activities and to lift banking secrecy when there is substantial evidence of illegal activities, including terrorism (Xinhua 3 May 2002). In May 2003, 5.2 million U.S. dollars in Lebanese bank accounts were frozen by virtue of the new legislation (ibid.).

The INCB annual report for 2002 states that,

in Lebanon, a workshop on combating money-laundering was held in January 2002; in May 2002, the Special Investigation Commission released its first findings about the cases it had identified. In view of those positive developments, the Board encourages the Government of Lebanon to take the necessary steps to withdraw its reservation on the provisions against money-laundering in the 1988 Convention (INCB 26 Feb. 2003, 63).

A 22 June 2001 report published on the Website of the Washington-based Stop the Drug War organizations states that Lebanese farmers in the Bekaa valley, who were disabused of the United Nations' "ill-financed and perhaps ill-advised alternative development schemes," were gradually returning the production of hashish and cannabis.

According to the INCB annual report for 2002, the cultivation of cannabis has increased in the Bekaa valley but that "eradication efforts are still being undertaken on a regular basis" (26 Feb. 2003, 63).

On 1 February 2002, the Lebanese police seized 2,500 kilograms of hashish following raids on warehouses in the village of Barga, in the Bekka valley (AP 1 Feb. 2002).

Later in February 2002, the police seized 6,000 kilograms of hashish during raids conducted on a warehouse located near the city of Baalbek, in the Bekaa valley (ibid. 19 Feb. 2002).

In April 2002, the Lebanese drug authorities destroyed 200 hectares of opium poppy fields in the Baalbek-Hermel area of the Bekaa valley (AFP 30 Apr. 2002).

In August 2002, 5.3 hectares of "illegal crops" were destroyed in a joint operation by Lebanese and Syrian forces (ibid. 4 Aug. 2002). In September 2002, Lebanese Interior Minister Elias Murr stated that 11,400 hectares of hashish and 900 hectares of opium crops had been destroyed since May 2002 (ibid. 4 Sept. 2002).

In Lebanon, drug traffickers face up to 15 years in jail, if convicted (AP 5 Oct. 2002; AII 17 June 2002).

No further information on organized crime in Lebanon, its involvement in the production of narcotics and drug trafficking and the government's actions to combat organized crime could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 4 September 2002. "Lebanon Ends 'Total' Drugs Eradication Campaign: Interior Minister." (Dialog)
_____. 4 August 2002. "Syrian Army in Lebanon Helps to Eradicate Cannabis Crop." (Dialog)
_____. 30 April 2002. "Opium Poppy Fields Eradicated in Eastern Lebanon." (Dialog)

Airline Industry Information (AII) [Conventry, UK]. 17 June 2002. "Man Arrested at Beirut Airport with Cocaine." (COMTEX News Network/Dialog)

Albani, Dr. Jihad René. 2 February 2001. "History of Drug Trafficking in Lebanon and Syria." [Accessed 8 Sept. 2003]

Associated Press (AP). 5 October 2002. "Police Arrest 24 People in Anti-Drug Campaign." (Dialog)
_____. May 2002. "Police Seize Drugs in House Raid in Eastern Lebanon." (Dialog)
_____. 19 February 2002. "Police Raid Nets Major Hashish Haul in Eastern Lebanon." (Dialog)
_____. 1 February 2002. "Police Execute Major Drug Bust in Northeastern Lebanon." (Dialog)

International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), Vienna. 26 February 2003. Report of the INCB for 2002. (E/INCB/2001/1)< http://www.incb.org/e/ind_cont.htm> [Accessed 8 Sept. 2003]
_____. 21 February 2001. Report of the INCB for 2000. (E/INCB/2000/1) [Accessed 8 Sept. 2003]

Middle East Intelligence Bulletin (MEIB) [New York]. June 2001. Vol. 3, No. 6. Ziad K. Abdelnour. "The Revival of Lebanon's Drug Trade." [Accessed 8 Sept. 2003]
_____. 5 October 2000. Vol. 2, No. 9. Alexander H. Joffe. "Drug Production and the Environment in Lebanon." [Accessed 8 Sept. 2003]

StoptheDrugWar.org: The Drug Reform Coodination Network (DRC Net, Washington). 22 June 2001. "Return of the Oppressed: Hash Production Revives in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, Farmers Vow to Fight Eradication." [Accessed 8 Sept. 2003]

Xinhua News Agency. 3 May 2002. "Lebanon Freezes 5 Million Dollars in Anti-Money Laundering Move." (Dialog)

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB databases

Internet sites, including:

United States Department of State. 13 March 2002. International Drug Trafficking and Terrorism.

World News Connection (WNC/Dialog)