A Syrian passenger arrested in Beirut with 40 kilogrammes of cocaine allegedly bribed airport officials in Ghana to facilitate the shipment of the drugs, Lebanese customs sources have said.
The passenger, identified only by his initials B.H., was arrested at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport on Saturday, 31 October, after arriving from Accra aboard Middle East Airlines flight MEA 576.
Lebanese customs sources told broadcaster LBCI that the suspect allegedly paid a bribe at Accra airport to enable him to check in two suitcases containing the cocaine.
The sources did not disclose the amount allegedly paid or identify the officials involved.
The seizure, described by Lebanese customs as the largest passenger drug bust in the airport’s history, has raised questions about how the shipment passed through Ghana’s main international airport.
$3,000 promised for delivery
According to an LBCI report published on 1 November, the suspect was promised $3,000 to transport the cocaine from Ghana to Lebanon.
Lebanese customs and General Security officers had reportedly monitored his movements after receiving intelligence about his departure from Ghana.
Officers tracked him from the moment he disembarked until he collected his luggage at the baggage carousel, where they arrested him.
The two suitcases contained 40 packages of cocaine, each weighing approximately one kilogramme, concealed in packaging designed to evade airport scanners.
The luggage was also fitted with AirTag tracking devices.
Lebanese customs authorities recorded the total weight of the seizure, including packaging, at 46.7 kilogrammes, while General Security put the net cocaine weight at 40 kilogrammes.
Customs sources said the passenger was expected to contact an unidentified person outside the airport and hand over the shipment in exchange for the promised payment.
Ghana’s account
The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) has, however, described the arrest as the outcome of a coordinated operation involving law enforcement authorities in both countries.
In a statement issued on 1 November, the commission said the seizure resulted from a controlled delivery exercise designed to identify suspects at both ends of the trafficking route.
“This successful apprehension resulted from a coordinated controlled delivery exercise, carried out through close operational cooperation between Ghanaian and Lebanese drug law enforcement authorities,” NACOC said.
The commission added that the operation was intended to identify and apprehend targets across the supply chain while gathering intelligence to dismantle the wider trafficking network.
It said investigations were ongoing to identify and arrest other suspects in Ghana.
NACOC’s statement did not address the Lebanese allegation that the passenger had bribed officials at Accra airport.
Authorities exchange information
According to LBCI, Brigadier General Misbah Khalil, head of Lebanon’s Higher Customs Council, contacted Ghanaian security and customs authorities following the seizure.
The two countries subsequently exchanged information to establish the shipment’s route, identify those involved and investigate the suspected trafficking network.
The Lebanese account said B.H. entered Lebanon legally through the Masnaa land border crossing on October 23 before travelling to Accra the same day.
He returned to Beirut eight days later carrying the cocaine, according to the report.
The intended recipient of the drugs has not been identified.
Previous Ghana-linked seizures
The latest incident follows other major cocaine seizures involving shipments originating from Ghana.
In December 2025, Lebanese customs announced the seizure of approximately 70 kilogrammes of cocaine that had arrived from Ghana concealed in a 600-kilogramme air-freight shipment declared as coconut oil.
In September 2026, French authorities seized 3.9 tonnes of cocaine, valued at approximately 225 million euros, concealed in a shipment of plastic waste originating from Ghana at the port of Dunkirk.
In August, authorities at Tema Port also intercepted 866 parcels of suspected cocaine concealed in sacks of gari.
Investigations into the Beirut seizure are continuing under judicial supervision as authorities in Ghana and Lebanon seek to establish the identities of the alleged organisers, couriers and intended recipients.
