Iraq says its tip to Lebanon leads to the destruction of an amphetamine factory

BEIRUT (AP) — One of Lebanon’s largest factories making the highly addictive amphetamine Captagon has been discovered and destroyed as part of rare security cooperation between intelligence agencies in Iraq and Lebanon, Iraq’s Interior Ministry said.

The announcement late Monday came a month after the Lebanese army issued a statement about the discovery of a drug factory in Yammoune village in the eastern Bekaa Valley with large amounts of drugs inside.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry said the Lebanese operation in Yammoune in mid-July came after Iraqi authorities gave Beirut information about the factory.

A senior Lebanese security official on Tuesday said it was not clear why Iraqi authorities made the announcement Monday, adding that Lebanon’s security agencies are always in contact with Arab and international security agencies. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Regional states are intensifying efforts to fight the drug trade.

The vast majority of the world’s Captagon is produced in neighboring Syria, with some production in Lebanon. Western governments estimate that Captagon has generated billions of dollars in revenue for former Syrian President Bashar Assad, his associates and allies. The former government in Damascus denied the accusations.

After Assad was removed from power in December when Islamist fighters took over Damascus, the fight against drug production intensified in Lebanon and Syria.

In February, the interior ministers of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq held talks in the Jordanian capital on ways to combat the illegal drug trade and agreed to set up a joint telecommunications cell to exchange information. Smugglers have used Jordan as a corridor to smuggle Captagon pills out of Syria, mainly to oil-rich Arab Gulf states.