Lebanese Interior Ministry Thwarts Drug Smuggling Scheme to Kuwait

The office of Basam Mawlawi, the Minister of Interior and Municipalities in the caretaker government, announced that "as part of the ongoing and intensive security cooperation between the Kuwaiti and Lebanese Ministries of Interior to pursue drug dealers and traffickers, and after receiving information from the General Directorate of Anti-Drug Affairs and providing it to the Lebanese Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, as well as notifying the Lebanese Customs Directorate, the Drug Control Unit of the Lebanese Customs was able to seize approximately 800 kg of drugs." The Ministry of Interior stated in a communiqué that "based on this information, coordination took place between the Kuwaiti and Lebanese sides to inspect the shipment thoroughly, revealing a large quantity of drugs professionally hidden in wooden models concealed within a bulletproof box, in preparation for smuggling to Kuwait by first sending it from Lebanon to the Netherlands." The statement added: "One of those involved in the smuggling operation has been arrested and referred along with the seized items to the Central Anti-Drug Office in the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces, and efforts are ongoing to apprehend others."