IDF arrests two Lebanese men who crossed into Israel with 11 kg of hashish

Noticing suspicious movement near village of Ghajar, troops fire flares and conduct search, apprehend two suspected smugglers

By ToI Staff 4 February 2019, 12:49 am Edit

Spanish UN peacekeepers patrol in the disputed Shebaa Farms area between Lebanon and Israel, overlooking the divided border village of Ghajar, southeast Lebanon, February 24, 2015. (AP /Hussein Malla)

The IDF on Sunday night arrested two Lebanese men who crossed the border into Israel and were discovered to be carrying 11 kilograms (25 pounds) of hashish.

Noticing movement near the Israeli divided border village of Ghajar, troops fired a series of flares and conducted searches of the area which led to the apprehension of the suspects, security sources said.

The two men, identified as residents of Ghajar aged 25 and 35, were found to be carrying large quantities of drugs. They were handed over to Israel police and will appear Monday at the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court for a remand hearing.

Israel originally captured the Alawite village of Ghajar from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War, and annexed it along with the Golan Heights in 1981. When Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, the United Nations placed the border in the middle of the village, with Israel controlling the southern part of the village and Lebanon the north.

The village has a long history as a point of drug smuggling between the two countries.