The Lebanese army arrested on Thursday Lebanon's most prominent drug trafficker, Noah Zaitar, who is subject to American, British, and European sanctions. According to a military source, the Lebanese army arrested Zaitar during an operation carried out in the eastern part of the country. The source told AFP that Zaitar was «arrested during a security operation conducted by the army in the Bekaa region, where he ran an empire for manufacturing and smuggling drugs, including captagon, the trade of which has flourished in recent years between Lebanon and Syria». In a brief statement, the Lebanese army stated: «The army arrested citizen (N.Z.), one of the most dangerous wanted individuals, in an ambush on the Church road». This is the town where Zaitar hails from in the Baalbek region, where he had been fortified for years with the protection of armed men from his clan, which is one of the largest in the area. Zaitar, born in 1977, is Lebanon's most famous drug dealer and smuggler, and is a fugitive from justice. Dozens of arrest warrants and default judgments have been issued against him. In interviews he has given, he has always denied the charges against him, which, in addition to drugs, include car theft and clashes with the army.
