BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 20.Noah Zeaiter, believed to be a leading figure in drug trafficking from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, including the global distribution of captagon, was arrested on Thursday, the Lebanese army said TurkicWorld reports via arabnews.
Describing him as “one of the most dangerous wanted men” in the country, the army command said he was captured during an ambush along a road between Kneisseh and Baalbek.
Lebanese authorities have been after Zeaiter for years. In 2014, he escaped from a hospital to which he was taken after sustaining leg wounds during a confrontation with security forces. In 2021, a Lebanese military court sentenced him in his absence to life imprisonment.
Also wanted by Interpol, Zeaiter, 54, is accused by US and European authorities of heading a captagon-smuggling network that also involved Hezbollah and the former Assad regime in Syria. He denies the accusations, claiming they are fabricated.
His lawyer, Ashraf Mousawi, said Zeaiter was “wanted on hundreds of warrants, some of which carry life sentences.”
He added: “My client, Zeaiter, is wanted by Lebanese authorities and Interpol for various drug-related crimes, including cultivation, trafficking and distribution.
“However, he has not been involved in any kidnappings, carjackings or resistance against the Lebanese army. In other words, he has never fired a shot at the army.”
The security operation during which he was captured took place at around 3:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, Mousawi said, adding: “Zeaiter did not resist; he surrendered to the army without being shot.”
Zeaiter is a member of the Zeaiter clan, a powerful local group known for its involvement in organized crime, in particular the trafficking of the drugs hashish and captagon, arms smuggling, and violent confrontations with state authorities and rival families, such as the Jaafar clan.
Locals say Zeaiter is constantly surrounded by heavy security, likening his presence in the Baalbek-Hermel region to that of a mafia boss in a Hollywood movie, complete with a lavish and ostentatious lifestyle. Hundreds of families in the area reportedly depend on his illicit trades for their livelihoods.
Zeaiter had been hiding out in Kneisseh, a remote village deep in the northern Bekaa Valley. Authorities found luxury cars with tinted windows parked outside his residence after his arrest. According to experts and local sources, his protection was provided through an intricate mix of tribal allegiances and political backing, particularly from Hezbollah.
The drug trade in the Bekaa flourished between 1975 and 1990 during the Lebanese Civil War, expanded under the Syrian military presence in the country, and thrived under the influence of Hezbollah, which provided sanctuary for figures wanted by security forces.
A security source told Arab News: “The neglected and porous border with Syria — where security control was blurred between the Syrian army and then militias during the Syrian war — and Hezbollah’s expansion into Syrian territory facilitated the growth of Zeaiter’s influence in smuggling operations across the mountainous border region, and his use of bribery to secure protection.”
Zeaiter’s arrest comes less than 48 hours after violent clashes between the Lebanese army and gunmen from the Jaafar clan in Baalbek. Two soldiers died during the confrontation, several more were injured, and a wanted man named Hussein Abbas Jaafar was killed.
Jaafar, considered one of the most dangerous fugitives in Lebanon, was accused of a string of crimes including the murder of soldiers, kidnap, armed robbery and drug trafficking.
The soldiers who died were named as 1st Sgt. Bilal Baradei and Cpl. Ali Haidar. The Lebanese army has employed drones in its ongoing pursuit of fugitives and continues to enforce a tight security cordon around neighborhoods in Baalbek.
