Drug Factory Raided in Bekaa as Area of Security Plan Widens

The joint security force raided on Saturday the town of Maqne in north Baalbek as the army cracked down on a narcotics factory in the region, on the third day of an unprecedented security plan.

“Following a series of raids in the al-Hammoudiyeh area and other towns, army forces discovered a factory for manufacturing drugs and seized machines and a quantity of narcotics,” the Army Command said in a statement.

“The seized material were handed over to the relevant authorities,” the army added.

Earlier on Saturday, state-run National News Agency reported that the plan widened to reach more areas in the Bekaa Valley as the forces raided Maqne, which is adjacent to the international highway.

The news agency said that the security forces apprehended overnight several outlaws in al-Taybeh area in Baalbek.

The Internal Security Forces announced in a statement later on Saturday that four wanted individuals were arrested in Bekaa, and a stolen vehicle was confiscated. Both were handed over to the army.

So far, 66 fugitives have been detained and 36 stolen vehicles and several tons of hashish have been confiscated.

Al-Jadeed channel later reported that the army raided several encampments for Syrian refugees in Deir el-Ahmar, Iaat and Maqne, detaining several Syrians who were not carrying identification papers.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim and Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous carried out a tour in the Bekaa on Friday to oversee the implementation of the plan.

The joint force is comprised of the Internal Security Forces' special panthers unit, the Lebanese army and the General Security.

Mashnouq stressed that the security plan confirms the presence of the state in the Bekaa and aims at preventing fugitive outlaws from returning from Syria.

Media reports had said that the suspects had fled the Bekaa ahead of the implementation of the plan, which was announced by al-Mashnouq 15 days prior to its execution.

“We realize that dangerous offenders fled to Syria, but the security plan is to prevent them from returning,” Mashnouq noted.

He pointed out that the security plan will continue in an attempt to announce the Bekaa free of outlaws, drugs and criminal activity.

Speaker Nabih Berri has recently warned offenders in the Bekaa Valley that they will eventually have no choice but to hand themselves over to security forces, flee the country or face death ahead of the implementation of the security plan.

The plan seeks to clamp down on criminals in the Bekaa where certain areas, such as the town of Brital, are known to be a safe haven for car-theft gangs and drug dealers, as well as networks that kidnap people in return for ransom.

The army had launched a crackdown on suspects and fugitives in the northern city of Tripoli and several other areas in an attempt to halt security chaos across the country.

H.K./Y.R.