According to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior, intelligence agencies from both Iraq and Lebanon have worked together to find and destroy one of Lebanon’s largest drug factories, which produces the highly addictive amphetamine Captagon.
The announcement came a month after the Lebanese army released a statement regarding the discovery of a factory in Yammoune village in the eastern Bekaa Valley, which featured a rare security operation between the two nations.
The Lebanese operation in Yammoune, according to the Iraqi interior ministry, was initiated after Beirut was given factory information by Iraqi authorities.
A senior Lebanese security official on Tuesday said it was unclear why Iraqi authorities made the announcement on Monday, adding that Lebanon’s security forces maintain regular contact with Arab and international security forces.
The extensive drug trade has been gaining ground in Arab states.
The majority of the world’s Captagon is produced in neighboring Syria, with some in Lebanon.
According to Western governments, Bashar al-Assad, his family, associates, and allies, captagon generated billions of dollars in revenue. The accusations were refuted by the former Damascus government.
However, opposition fighters who took control of Damascus’ capital quickly discovered large quantities of Captagon, a stimulant that has long been produced in large quantities and has since become almost synonymous with the country’s former leadership.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the rebels who forced al-Assad to flee and has since been in charge of interim Syria, claimed that the former regime had made Syria “the most important source of capton in the world.” He vowed to impose a tighter ban on the production and trade of Captagons.
The interior ministers of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq discussed ways to combat the illegal drug trade in Amman in February, and they all agreed to set up a joint telecommunications cell to exchange information.
Source: Aljazeera
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