BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 20 (UPI) — The Lebanese Army has arrested Noah Zaaiter, the country’s most notorious and wanted drug lord — after years fleeing from justice — for operating a vast multibillion dollar cross-border drug industry and weapons trafficking network and forming gangs involved in armed theft and kidnapping.
The Army announced the arrest in a statement, without disclosing the detainee’s name and referring to him only by his initials, “N.Z.”
The statement described him as “one of the most dangerous wanted individuals,” with numerous arrest warrants issued for crimes including “forming gangs active across Lebanon, trafficking drugs and weapons, producing narcotics and committing armed robbery and theft.”
The 48-year-old Zaaiter also is wanted for shooting at army personnel and positions, as well as kidnapping people for ransom. He was apprehended in an ambush in eastern Lebanon.
He was linked frequently to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad due to his involvement in drug and arms trafficking.
His arrest came two days after the Army seized a large cache of ammunition and drugs during a raid, which was followed by clashes with fugitives in a neighborhood of the eastern city of Baalbek. Two Lebanese soldiers were killed and three others wounded in the clashes.
In 2021, Zaaiter was sentenced in absentia to life in prison with hard labor by a Lebanese military court for drug-related crimes.
Two years later, he was among several prominent businessmen, militia leaders and relatives of Assad sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union for their involvement in the production and smuggling of the amphetamine Captagon.
According to the Lebanese Army, Zaaiter is being interrogated.
Belonging to the powerful Zaaiter clan in eastern Lebanon, he appeared several times on television and spoke to media outlets, justifying his involvement in the illicit drug trade by citing the poor conditions in his area. He even openly advocated the use of hashish.
Recently, the Lebanese Army has increased its efforts to combat drug trafficking, particularly Captagon, through intelligence-led raids, border and port seizures, and destruction of drug factories.
Despite challenges such as porous borders and organized crime networks, the army has achieved notable successes in seizing large quantities of pills and dismantling production sites.
Last July, it dismantled one of the country’s largest Captagon factories, located in the town of Yammouneh. 17 miles northwest of Baalbek.
Such efforts were particularly welcomed by Saudi Arabia, which recently promised to ease a 2021 ban on Lebanese produce and exports that had been imposed due to large-scale drug smuggling into its territory and other Gulf states.
