Conflict Incident Report

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army raided three homes owned by Ali Shamas, following his appearance on a BBC documentary about his involvement in drug trade and weapons cache.

A security source told The Daily Star that Shamas had not been found in any of the buildings in Boudai in eastern Lebanon.

Military intelligence, however, confiscated stashes of drugs and weapons.

Shamas is wanted on several hundred charges for drug trading, owning unlicensed weapons, among other violations, the security source said.

Shamas was featured in a 17-minute-long BBC Pop Up documentary about Lebanon’s hashish trade published earlier this month.

The film crew toured his house and hashish production facilities, where Shamas showed them his weapons, which included various assault rifles, a sniper rifle and a rocket propelled grenade launcher.

He also admitted to having killed people who had “done him wrong,” adding that he had used his weapons to fight Daesh (ISIS) in a nearby village.

Shamas told the BBC that he produces between $1-1.5 million in hashish annually.

Seperately, the Lebanese Army announced in a statement that they had raided the homes of several wanted men in Baalbeck, including A.J. who was wanted for using military weapons.

They confiscated an unregistered Honda vehicle, two RPG launchers, 4.5 kilograms of cocaine, 14.5 kilograms of hashish, and tools used for manufacturing drugs.

ِAnother large-scale hashish dealer, Nouh Zeaiter's home in Baalbeck was raised by the Lebanese Army Monday. He was not found either.

Zeaiter previously featured in a documentary by local television station MTV.

In a televised interview on Al-Jadeed Television, he said, "My dear sir, we protect Hezbollah. We are the shield of the resistance. We are the ones who protect Hezbollah. We are the ones who are harmed most by (our connection with) Hezbollah."