WASHINGTON Ñ A U.S. report charges that Lebanon and Syria have
suspended efforts against drug production.
As a result, officials said, there has been a huge increase in the cultivation of
hashish in Lebanon.
A State Department report on drug trafficking said the economic hardship
in Lebanon has led farmers to grow hashish. The report said neither Lebanon
nor Syria, with about 25,000 troops in the country, has stopped the
cultivation.
Lebanon has resumed the cannabis and poppy cultivation over the last
year. This, after nearly two years of a halt in such cultivation due to
Lebanese-Syrian anti-drug cooperation.
"Unlike in recent years, Syria did not use its influence in Lebanon to
assist Lebanon in suppressing cannabis cultivation and harvesting in the
Bekaa Valley," the report said. "This fact, combined with a lack of Lebanese
eradication and crop substitution efforts, led to a sharp increase in
hashish production in Lebanon."
The report said about 4,010 hectares of land were used for hashish
production.
The militaries of Lebanon and Syria are in close coordination regarding
illegal drug traffickers. The report said Lebanon is plagued by rampant
corruption that reaches up to the senior level of government.
"Given the level of Syrian involvement in Lebanese domestic affairs,
success in combating narcotics cultivation and trafficking depends on the
will of both the Syrian and Lebanese governments," the report said.
"Although Syria from 1992 until 2000 demonstrated a commitment to
counternarcotics actions in Lebanon, in 2001 it made no efforts to deter
cultivation or to eradicate illicit cultivation."
Over the weekend, after the release of the U.S. report, Syria and
Lebanese troops coordinated in an anti-drug operation in the Bekaa Valley. A
Lebanese official told a news conference that troops confiscated six tons of
hashish and arrested four suspected growers.
