The illegal drug trade in Lebanon involves an expanding Lebanese involvement in both drug production and trade, a phenomenon substantiated by studies. The economic and political upheaval in Lebanon, as delineated in a study by the Euro-Gulf Information Center, has driven Hezbollah, wherein narcotics serve as a notable revenue stream, to intensify its involvement in the drug economy. Western intelligence agencies estimate that Lebanon produces over 4 million pounds of hashish and 20,000 pounds of heroin annually, generating profits exceeding US$4 billion. According to The Washington Post, Lebanon's drug industry contributes substantially to the country's economy, accounting for over half of its foreign-exchange earnings. Although the drug trade remains a major problem in Lebanon, the scale of the issue is nowhere near as large as it was during the civil war where it plausibly accounted for about half of Europe's heroin consumption and a fifth of US consumption, today Lebanon stands mostly as a transit hub for drug smuggling rather than a main producer. According to Waleed Bukhari, Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, there were attempts to smuggle 600 million narcotic pills from Lebanon to Saudi Arabia between 2015 and 2021. He further stated that the amount of drugs smuggled from Lebanon is enough "to drown not only Saudi Arabia but also the entire Arab world." Since the 1990s, drug smuggling has emerged as a primary source of income for the Assad regime in Syria and its ally Hezbollah. The main drug traded is Captagon, a member of the amphetamine family known as "the jihad drug," due to its use by radical groups in Syria, including, such as ISIS.
History
Origins (1950s–1960s) As per Beqaa Valley farmers, a farm located approximately 30 km from the capital Beirut and near the Syrian border is the epicenter of the drug industry. Lebanon has grown marijuana for millennia prior to its independence declaration in 1943. During the 1950s and 1960s, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and its predecessor agencies considered Lebanon to be one of the most crucial locations for the production and trafficking of hashish and opium globally. The article suggests that the trades could have potentially contributed up to a third or more to Lebanon's gross domestic product. According to Jonathan V. Marshall, nearly all senior government officials, customs agents, senior security personnel, commercial figures, and major landowners—particularly in the fertile Bakaa Valley area—were associated with drug trade, and many derived substantial incomes from it. While information is scant, Marshall asserts that this early "black economy" played a significant role in Lebanon's economic development and rise to prominence as a regional trading hub.
Lebanon's drug Industry during the Civil War (1970s–1980s) The drug industry in Lebanon was significantly expanded during the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990). One month after the eruption of the civil war, German police uncovered nearly 3 tons of Lebanese hashish. This was the largest drug seizure in the country's history. By 1977, Lebanese farmers were growing marijuana over 10,000 acres of cannabis fields valued at approximately a billion dollars, reaching by the end of the civil war (1990) 125,000 acres, or 49% of northern Bakka valley land. As the war progressed, so did the drug industry. In 1976, Syrian military took control over the Bakaa valley and by 1982, under the watchful eye of Syria's occupying army, marijuana fields covered nearly 90 percent of the region. Toward the mid-1980s, poppy fields started replacing marijuana fields, beginning heroin production, with its trade reaching billions of dollars. According to Fawwaz Traboulsi, in his book "Culture et commerce de drogue au Liban", secret laboratories were reportedly processing not only heroin but also Colombian cocaine, contributed to the expanding narcotics market in Lebanon. The estimated production value amounted to $6 billion, eventually reaching a high of $150 billion, paying parties involved in the trade an estimate of $500 million to $1 billion annually. The product shift gained popularity due to its higher value and smuggling became easier due to its lighter weight, increasing drug revenues substantially. According to Elizabeth Picard, Trafficking was not only tolerated by the state but the country's political elite group was directly involved in the industry. As the government's authority weakened in the country, marijuana and opium became important sources of income for various militias and political factions. Trafficking increased during the war, taking advantage of the situation. According to Picard, the initiation of Lebanon's protracted and civil war cannot be attributed to the drug war lords, as they had been conducting their illicit trade relatively without interference for a considerable period. However, the conflict created a demand for secure pathways to transport their marijuana and opium yields, and the militias sought financial resources. This led to a symbiotic alliance between the two parties. Toward the end of the civil war, the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics Matters defined Lebanon as the "key processing transshipment center in the Middle East for opiates, with the emergence of about one hundred from 1985 to 1987. In 1988, heroin production reached about ten tons." In the 1980s, Syria, which had a significant military presence in Lebanon, particularly in the Beqaa Valley, played a central role in controlling and benefiting from the drug trade according to The Washington Post. Syrian military and intelligence officers stationed in the Beqaa were directly or indirectly involved in trafficking, leading to substantial financial gains. The involvement of high-ranking Syrian officials, possibly reaching the inner circle of Syria's government, was suspected.
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