Lebanon army arrests drug kingpin Nouh Zaiter: military source

The Lebanese army on Thursday arrested the country's most famous drug lord, Nouh Zaiter, during an operation in the country's east, a military source told AFP.

Zaiter, who is under European and US sanctions, "was arrested during a security operation carried out by the army in the Bekaa", the source said on condition of anonymity.

A statement from the army said it had arrested an individual identified as N.Z. in a roadside ambush, calling him one of the country's "most dangerous wanted men".

Zaiter -- whose name is also written as Noah Zaitar -- allegedly ran a veritable empire in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border, producing and exporting drugs including the stimulant captagon.

He has been on the run from Lebanese authorities for years, and has dozens of arrest warrants and criminal convictions to his name. 

The United States, Britain and the European Union sanctioned him in 2023.

The US Treasury said at the time that he was "a known arms dealer and drug smuggler" who allegedly conducted his activities under the protection of the authorities of now-deposed Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.

The US sanctioned him alongside two of Assad's cousins over the trafficking of captagon.

Syria became a narco state under Assad, with the multibillion dollar captagon industry dwarfing all other exports and funding both the former ruler and many of his enemies.

The synthetic drug flooded the region, particularly wealthy Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia.

Born in 1977 to a powerful clan from the Bekaa, Zaiter used to court media attention, sometimes holding interviews with outlets including with AFP.

© Agence France-Presse