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Conflict Incident Report

ISF arrests suspects selling fake protein powder in Tripoli

Date of incident: 
August 31, 2018
Death toll: 
0persons
Number of Injured: 
0persons
Actors/Parties Involved: 
Internal Security Forces (ISF)
Lebanese Civilians

A man and a woman were arrested for producing counterfeit protein products and selling them in Tripoli, the Internal Security Forces said Friday.

The suspects, a Jordanian man identified as T.M., born in 1972, and a Lebanese woman identified as R.B., born in 1969, were producing branded boxes that were labeled “made in the U.S.” and filling them with fake protein made of sugar, milk and cocoa, according to a statement from the ISF.

When arresting T.M., the ISF seized 37 MegaMass branded boxes, as well as over 30 bags labeled “Creatine” and “DMI,” that were found in the van.

The driver, a Lebanese man identified as N.Kh., born in 1969, was also arrested, but said he had no knowledge of the boxes’ contents and that he was hired as a van driver by a Lebanese man identified as B.R.

N.Kh. said he was tasked with moving the products from Kesrouan’s Ajaltoun to Tripoli.

T.M. reportedly admitted to making the counterfeit packaging and the protein at his home, along with an accomplice.

Primary category: 
Arrest/Detention
Secondary Category: 
Illicit Trade/Trafficking/Smuggling
Classification of conflict (primary): 
Individual acts of violence
Violent incidents which do not have a specific or a known political agenda but are caused by the general proliferation of weapons, of trained and untrained soldiers or militants, by the general inefficiency of the Justice system, and past-traditions and histories of violence within society.