The Lebanese Army announced the arrest of Noah Zaaiter, a 48-year-old figure long accused of running a cross-border drug and weapons trafficking network and of leading armed gangs. Authorities say Zaaiter was captured in an ambush in eastern Lebanon after intelligence located his whereabouts.
The Army described the detainee as "one of the most dangerous wanted individuals," and said he faces multiple warrants for forming armed gangs, trafficking drugs and weapons, producing narcotics, armed robbery, and kidnapping.
Zaaiter is also accused of opening fire on army personnel and positions. The arrest followed a recent operation in which security forces seized a large cache of ammunition and narcotics and then clashed with fugitives in a Baalbek neighborhood; those clashes left two soldiers dead and three wounded.
In 2021 a Lebanese military court sentenced Zaaiter in absentia to life with hard labor on drug-related charges. In 2023 he was among several businessmen, militia figures and associates linked to the Assad regime who were sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union for roles in producing and smuggling the amphetamine Captagon.
Zaaiter belongs to the influential Zaaiter clan in eastern Lebanon and had appeared publicly defending his involvement in the illicit trade, citing poor local conditions and at times advocating hashish use. The Army said Zaaiter is currently being interrogated.
Lebanon’s military has been intensifying efforts to dismantle Captagon networks through intelligence-led raids, border and port seizures, and the demolition of production sites. Last July the Army dismantled what it described as one of the country’s largest Captagon factories in Yammouneh, northwest of Baalbek.
The intensified campaign has drawn regional attention: Saudi officials welcomed the actions, which helped lead Riyadh to signal a possible easing of a 2021 ban on Lebanese produce and exports that had been imposed amid large-scale drug smuggling into Gulf states.
