If I had told you just a year ago that the Lebanese Army would raid the Dahiyeh neighborhood in southern Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold that was once closed to Lebanese security forces and was effectively run as a foreign territory, you would have dismissed these things as completely imaginary.
Today, after the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and his entire senior military command, and after Western countries strengthened the Lebanese army and gave it the backing to carry out everything it was tasked with in order to subjugate all sects in Lebanon despite the government, Hezbollah’s grip on Lebanon and the possibility of violating any law and enriching itself at the expense of the state is fading, and at the same time the Lebanese army’s self-confidence is growing, to the point that it is not afraid to enter the heart of the neighborhood and act there against law-breaking economic centers.
Today, the Lebanese media reports that the company “Regie – for Tobacco and Weight Trade” (Regie) announced that “raids carried out by the anti-smuggling mechanism in the American neighborhood and the airport road area in the A-Dahiyya neighborhood, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, resulted in the seizure of quantities of smuggled electronic cigarettes and smoking materials Counterfeit”.
Official Lebanese media emphasized that “these raids are part of its ongoing efforts to seize smuggled and counterfeit tobacco products”.
As a reminder, Hezbollah finances its activities, both military and social, through trade and smuggling of prohibited or counterfeit substances, such as tobacco, medicines, drugs and more.
The Lebanese government is currently working to cut off the entire smuggling route that prevents customs money from entering the state coffers.
It is worth noting that all the roadblocks that Hezbollah placed on the outskirts of the neighborhood have been removed and currently only the Lebanese army checkpoints are authorized to operate on state soil.