Drugs hidden in fruit reap bitter harvest for Lebanese

Struggling farmers hit out at ‘unfair’ import ban imposed by Saudis over amphetamine smuggling

LEBANESE farmers say they are struggling to survive the diplomatic backlash to drug smugglers exporting Captagon, an amphetamine popularised by Islamic State, inside shipments of fruit.

Beirut’s border authorities last week found nine million pills hidden inside fake oranges though traffickers have also exported their wares in the stomachs of live sheep or jars of tomato paste.

Saudi Arabia, Lebanon’s second-largest trading partner, has banned all imports from the country in response to the influx of drugs.

Developed in the 1960s to treat narcolepsy, depression and hyperactivity, the drug Fenethylline was marketed under the brand name Captagon until the 1980s, when its addictive properties became apparent.

Counterfeit Captagon found favour with IS militants, some of whom believed it provided them with bravery and energy on the battlefield.

Producers have found a market among bored youth in the Gulf, particularly in Saudi Arabia, where alcohol is illegal and until recently there were few forms of public entertainment.

After Saudi authorities intercepted 5.8 million pills hidden in pomegranates, the kingdom banned imports of Lebanese agricultural goods in April. This was extended in October to a blanket ban on all Lebanese imports.

“This is a disaster for farmers,” said Ahmad Fayyad, who grows lettuce, potatoes and herbs in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. “Ever since the authorities stopped us exporting the produce, we have lost money.”

The price of produce on the local market dropped by 40 per cent after the ban, with impoverished Lebanese citizens unable to increase consumption to make up the shortfall to farmers.

This struck a blow to one of the few sectors of the import-dependent economy to remain productive. Beleaguered farmers fear last week’s drug bust will result in more export bans.

Hassan Fakih, a farmer who works with the Lebanese Agricultural Union, said they had been unfairly targeted.

“Some containers that go to Saudi Arabia contain drugs, yes … but we ask the Lebanese state and the Lebanese security agencies to co-operate with the Gulf, to be strict,” he said.

Analysts have suggested that the recent ban could be an attempt by Saudi Arabia to undermine Hizbollah’s position in Lebanon, as the Iran-aligned Shiite militant group which dominates the

‘This is a disaster. Ever since the authorities stopped us exporting the produce, we have lost money’

country has profited hugely from its control of the drug trade.

After a decade of civil war, Syrian businessmen close to the regime have turned to Captagon production as one of the few sources of export revenue.

Hizbollah’s control of key border crossings and ports has enabled it to benefit from the illicit trade.

But Saudi Arabia focusing on the supply side rather than demand is likely to backfire, according to Caroline Rose, an analyst with the New Lines Institute who has researched the Captagon trade.

“The recent blanket import ban imposed by Saudi Arabia will only amplify the very trade it wishes to curb,” she wrote in Foreign Policy.

“By denying all Lebanese producers top export markets … Gulf countries are creating additional space for Hizbollah to manoeuvre and for the illicit drug trade to thrive.”