Drug economy in Lebanon

The drug economy in Lebanon refers to the expanding Lebanese involvement in both drug production and trade, a phenomenon substantiated by studies. The economic and political upheaval in Lebanon, as delineated in a study by the Euro-Gulf Information Center, has driven Hezbollah, wherein narcotics serve as a notable revenue stream, to intensify its involvement in the drug economy. Western intelligence agencies estimate that Lebanon produces over 4 million pounds of hashish and 20,000 pounds of heroin annually, generating profits exceeding US$4 billion. According to The Washington Post, Lebanon's drug industry contributes substantially to the country's economy, accounting for over half of its foreign-exchange earnings.^[1][2]

While a portion of the harvest remains in Lebanon to serve to around 40,000 local drug users, about three-quarters are smuggled to Egypt, Israel, Europe, and North America. Law enforcement officials in the United States said that nearly 2,500 pounds of Lebanese heroin find its way to US streets each year, constituting nearly a fifth of the total heroin entering the country. Much of the remaining heroin is smuggled into Western Europe, where it contributes to more than half of the continent's heroin consumption. The marijuana harvest, processed into hashish, represents 75 percent of global consumption.^[1]

According to Waleed Bukhari, Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, there were attempts to smuggle 600 million narcotic pills from Lebanon to Saudi Arabia between 2015 and 2021. He further stated that the amount of drugs smuggled from Lebanon is enough "to drown not only Saudi Arabia but also the entire Arab world." Since the 1990s, drug smuggling has emerged as a primary source of income for the Assad regime in Syria and its ally Hezbollah. The main drug traded is Captagon, a member of the amphetamine family known as "the jihad drug," due to its use by radical groups in Syria, including, such as ISIS.^[3]