Syria shuts down fake drug ring

A recent seizure of counterfeit drugs and the shutdown of the ring that provided them shows how Syria is stepping up its response to a problem that remains widespread in the Middle East.

Piled up in huge plastic bags, the haul netted millions of dollars worth of breast cancer, leukemia and other medicines, along with tens of thousands of anticoagulant pills that purported to treat heart attacks and other diseases. At least 65 people were detained; it couldn’t be learned if they were charged. A trial date hasn’t yet been set.
All were fakes with no medicinal value, copies of legitimate medicines made by Novartis AG, Sanofi-Aventis SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Roche Holding AG and Pfizer Inc.
The bust, which also seized equipment used to make and package fake drugs, stopped one ring’s lucrative trade of counterfeits to Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and Egypt, according to pharmaceutical-company managers and a Syrian official familiar with the investigation. Pfizer, Bristol-Myers, Novartis and Sanofi-Aventis confirmed the Syrian seizures. WSJ

8 arrested for drug possession in Lebanon

8 people , including 2 Iranians were arrested, at the Dahr al-Baidar security checkpoint for possession of drugs which they were moving from Bekaa to Beirut.
The suspects were arrested in 3 stages . The drugs confiscated included Cocaine , Opium, Hashish and Heroin. The detainees were turned over to the Office of Drug Control who will later refer them to the relevant court.

Police foils an attempt to smuggle cocaine at airport

Lebanon’s Judicial police have foiled an attempt to smuggle 3,700 grams of cocaine disguised as shampoo via Rafik Hariri Beirut International airport and arrested a drug dealer in Jbeil.

Bullshot: Snorting powder for an “instant energy boost” – Legal in Lebanon

The health ministry on Thursday cautioned that the Bullshot snuff powder is harmful to humans and warned against using the energy product or selling it. Fears rose in Lebanon that the “Bullshot” energy powder would encourage young people to take drugs. Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalife accused the importer of Bullshot of selling an unlicensed drug.

Khalife, in remarks published by daily As-Safir on Thursday denied that the importer of Bullshot has a license from the health ministry to sell the product in the market. The Bullshot importer company in Lebanon has claimed that the product was being legally sold in the Lebanese market.

Bullshot, made from Guarana powder, is the first and only energy product in the Middle East that is sniffed, the company website says. It “gives instant sensation of energy boost from the first sniff,” it said.

The “Bullshot Kit”, which includes a chromed sniffer, 9 grams of Bullshot powder filled in a plastic container, and metal filling device, are sold for $40 according to the company website. (Naharnet)

A Lebanese jailed in Jordan for smuggling drugs

A Jordanian military tribunal on Wednesday sentenced three people, including a 42-year-old Lebanese, to 15 years’ hard labor for smuggling 11 kilos of cocaine into the country.
“Two men, a Jordanian, 25, and a 42-year-old Lebanese, as well as a Brazilian woman, 27, brought 11 kilos of cocaine from Brazil to Jordan in order to take it to Lebanon,” a court official told AFP.
“They were arrested at Amman’s international airport in January last year.”

Hezbollah denies using drug trafficking to fund its activities

Hezbollah issued a statement on Tuesday denying the report issued by German magazine Der Spiegel that the German police suspected Hezbollah of drug trafficking in Europe to fund some of its activities against Israel.
“The party categorically denies the accusations of Der Spiegel magazine against Hezbollah,” the party said in the statement.
Hezbollah said that the magazine “is morally and legally responsible for the false fabrications it issued against the party” and called on Der Spiegel’s management “not to be a cheap tool manipulated by the Zionist entity to cover up for its crimes in Lebanon and Palestine.”
The party also called on the magazine “to be a true reflection of reality that reveals the injustice suffered by the Lebanese and Palestinian people.”
The German magazine reported on Saturday that German investigators are probing Hezbollah’s alleged cocaine smuggling in Europe and the transfer of the profits to Lebanon via Frankfurt airport.