The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) has detained three foreign individuals in Ghana related to a cocaine shipment weighing 46.7 kilograms that was confiscated at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon.
The suspects include nationals from Syria, Tunisia, and Lebanon, and they were apprehended during separate intelligence-driven operations on Tuesday, November 3, based on information provided by Lebanese law enforcement.
Sources indicate that two of the suspects, one male and one female, were taken into custody in Accra, while the third was arrested in a different operation.
These arrests are part of ongoing investigations by security agencies in Ghana and Lebanon aimed at identifying those believed to be involved in the cocaine shipment and uncovering their links to a broader international drug trafficking network.
This incident follows the arrest of a Syrian national at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport on Saturday, October 31, after he arrived from Accra on a Middle East Airlines flight with cocaine hidden in two bags.
Lebanese Customs officials reported that a search of the passenger’s luggage revealed 40 packages containing 46.7 kilograms of cocaine. The drugs were cleverly concealed using advanced packaging and insulation materials designed to avoid detection by scanning devices.
Electronic tracking devices were also allegedly discovered among the packages. Lebanese authorities have labeled this seizure as the largest drug bust in the airport’s history.
Initial investigations suggest that the suspect had entered Lebanon through the Masnaa border crossing from Syria weeks prior, before traveling to Accra and then returning to Beirut with the drugs.
NACOC stated that the operation leading to the arrest in Beirut was a coordinated controlled-delivery exercise carried out in partnership with Lebanese drug enforcement agencies.
The goal of the exercise was to find and catch people involved in both sides of the drug supply chain, while also collecting information to assist in breaking down the larger international criminal organization.