Investigation uncovers years of forged health approvals at Beirut Airport

Report by Lara El Hachem, English adaptation by Mariella Succar

A single cardboard box was enough to uncover a large-scale forgery scheme at Beirut’s airport.

About a month ago, a carton containing boxes declared as medication arrived through the airport. During inspection, an airport security officer suspected it contained undeclared hormones, which require prior approval from the Health Ministry before entering Lebanon.

Based on that suspicion, airport security referred the shipment to customs, where the broader scheme came to light: the box had been cleared using a forged Health Ministry authorization. All medication and hormones entering the country are supposed to undergo pharmaceutical inspection at the airport.

An investigation was opened, and customs questioned the customs broker handling the shipment. A review of the digital system revealed that over the past two years, 82 similar approvals had been issued using forged signatures of the airport’s pharmaceutical inspectors.

What made the case more serious was that all 82 paper documents were missing, complicating efforts to track the processing of each transaction.

The investigation into medication and hormone imports also uncovered a separate issue. Each customs inspector at the airport has a personal password granting access to the system relevant to their duties and work location. Through this login, inspectors check shipment data and enter it into the system.

However, investigators found that several employees had shared their passwords with a customs broker, granting him access to shipment data—authority that is strictly reserved for customs officials.

These developments—including forged approvals, missing documents and unauthorized system access—raised serious concerns within the Financial Prosecutor’s Office, which has taken over the case.

Suspicions also emerged regarding whether the broker involved was acting on behalf of another broker who is wanted on search and investigation notices, and whether the wanted broker had been entering the airport premises despite the notices issued against him.

Financial Prosecutor Judge Maher Chaito has questioned customs brokers, customs inspectors and administrative staff at the airport’s customs department. Authorities are also searching for the merchant who imported the latest shipment to uncover all the details of the case and determine who has been jeopardizing public health.