NACOC arrests three foreign nationals over 46.7kg cocaine seizure in Lebanon

The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) has arrested three foreign nationals in Ghana as investigations continue into the seizure of 46.7 kilogrammes of cocaine at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon.

The suspects, identified as Syrian, Tunisian and Lebanese nationals, were picked up in separate intelligence-led operations on Tuesday, November 3, following information received from Lebanese law enforcement authorities.

Sources indicate that 2 of the suspects, a man and a woman, were arrested in Accra, while the third was apprehended in a separate operation.

Their arrests form part of a joint investigation by Ghanaian and Lebanese security agencies to identify those suspected of facilitating the shipment and establish their links to a wider international drug trafficking network.

The development follows the arrest of a Syrian national at Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport on Saturday, October 31, after he arrived from Accra aboard a Middle East Airlines flight with cocaine concealed in 2 pieces of luggage.

Lebanese Customs authorities said a search of the passenger's bags uncovered 40 packages containing 46.7 kilogrammes of cocaine. The consignment had reportedly been concealed using sophisticated packaging and insulation materials designed to evade airport scanning equipment.

Electronic tracking devices were also reportedly discovered among the packages, with Lebanese authorities describing the seizure as the largest drug interception in the airport's history.

Preliminary investigations suggested that the suspect had entered Lebanon through the Masnaa border crossing from Syria several weeks earlier before travelling to Accra and later returning to Beirut with the cocaine consignment.

NACOC has maintained that the operation leading to the arrest in Lebanon was part of a coordinated controlled-delivery exercise conducted in collaboration with Lebanese drug enforcement authorities.

The operation was intended to identify and apprehend individuals at both ends of the suspected trafficking chain while gathering intelligence to help dismantle the wider international criminal network.