Lebanon arrests top drug lord Nouh Zaiter in ambush operation: Here are the details

Report by Edmond Sassine, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

The drug kingpin knew his time was coming. In recent months, Nouh Zaiter had watched colleagues in his cartel fall. He saw images of the intelligence directorate pursuing one of the drug lords, known as Abou Salleh, with a drone, engaging him, and ultimately killing him.

He then witnessed the fall of Hassan Abbas Jaafar and others. He also saw images of the army and its intelligence directorate destroying Captagon manufacturing plants and drug warehouses.

He observed precise aerial images of criminal gangs, their leaders, and the infiltration of armored convoys.

In the past few months, Nouh Zaiter had moved less frequently — a sharp contrast to his previous habit of traveling in large armed convoys.

Since August, Zaiter had been a target for arrest or neutralization. His residences in Laboueh, Jamalieh, and Kneisseh were monitored, but authorities were unable to apprehend him. Recently, warehouses were raided, and large quantities of illegal drugs were seized. 

At his Kneisseh home, he had not been staying recently; instead, he was at another location referred to as the “safe house.” The army’s intelligence monitored the homes using drones and other advanced technical means, waiting for any movement that would allow them to close in.

On Thursday, Zaiter moved with an associate. Sources told LBCI that the intelligence directorate had rented vehicles similar to the ones Zaiter and his supporters were accustomed to, and ambushed him at multiple points. 

On the Kneisseh road, two special forces vehicles and additional support units were positioned nearby. When he attempted to maneuver between three houses, the forces stopped him without resistance.

After his arrest, he was allowed to contact a family member to confirm he was unharmed before being taken to Ablah and then to Yarzeh. Zaiter’s phone was seized, potentially revealing a wide domestic and international network.

His lawyer, Ashraf al-Moussawi, confirmed to LBCI that Zaiter was arrested in an ambush, affirming the army’s statement.

Zaiter is not an ordinary wanted man in Lebanon. His lawyer noted that he has more than 1,000 legal cases and lawsuits against him, as well as hundreds of life sentences related to drug trafficking.

The arrest of one of Lebanon’s most notorious drug traffickers was welcomed by some Gulf countries and the United States, according to Lebanese sources.

Zaiter and his operations along the Lebanon-Syria border were a primary source of Captagon exports to the Gulf. Regarding the United States, Zaiter is on the sanctions list alongside drug lord Hassan Daqqou. He reportedly operated under the protection of Syria’s Fourth Division and maintained ties with members of Hezbollah. 

He was also accused by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of connections to some members of the Assad family, who relied on Captagon smuggling as a profit-generating model for the inner circle of the former regime.