Lebanese authorities have arrested two Nigerian nationals for allegedly smuggling cocaine capsules worth more than $500,000 into the country.
The suspects, identified only as R.A. (born 1996) and L.N. (born 1977), were apprehended in July by the Central Bureau for Drug Control after allegedly swallowing 156 capsules of the narcotic, weighing about three kilograms.
According to Lebanese news outlet L’Orient Today, the pair arrived at Beirut’s international airport at dawn on July 24, travelling from Nigeria via Ethiopia.
They allegedly proceeded to a hotel in the Kesrouan district, north of Beirut, to extract the drugs and deliver them to a local dealer.
The Internal Security Forces (ISF) said officers, who had been monitoring the suspects, arrested them “in the act” and seized the capsules.
The agency described the arrests as part of an ongoing investigation into “an international organisation recruiting people to deliver cocaine to Lebanon.”
The bust follows a similar operation in May, when security agents intercepted a man attempting to smuggle cocaine into Beirut from an African country, concealing the drugs in suitcases and in capsule form.
Reports indicate that arrests of Nigerians abroad for crimes such as drug trafficking, cyberfraud, and human trafficking have been increasing.
In July, the Ghana Immigration Service detained about 50 Nigerians in Accra for alleged cybercrime and human trafficking during a coordinated raid in the Ga South Municipality.
