Syria and Lebanon clear the Bekaa cannabis fields
After cannabis and opium production returned to the Syrian-controlled Bekaa in 2001, Syrian and Lebanese authorities ran a joint eradication campaign from 2002 to 2004 that sharply cut the area under cannabis and opium. Syria also upgraded its counternarcotics branch to a directorate in 2002 and opened regional offices in Aleppo and Homs to watch the Turkish and Lebanese borders.
πΈπΎ Syria
After cannabis and opium production returned to the Syrian-controlled Bekaa in 2001, Syrian and Lebanese authorities ran a joint eradication campaign from 2002 to 2004 that sharply cut the area under cannabis and opium. Syria also upgraded its counternarcotics branch to a directorate in 2002 and opened regional offices in Aleppo and Homs to watch the Turkish and Lebanese borders. In 2004 Syrian authorities seized 563 kilograms of hashish and arrested 3,677 people in 2,540 narcotics cases, according to the U.S. State Department.[1]
Sources
- International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2005, Volume I: Syria. U.S. Department of State. Summary; Status of Country; Country Actions Against Drugs in 2004.