Lebanon's Beirut airport authorities seized $2.5 million in cash destined for terrorist group Hezbollah concealed with a man arriving from Turkey, three sources said on Friday.
One of the sources said it was first time such a seizure had been made. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.
"The detainee and the seized funds will be handed over to the investigation division at the General Directorate of General Security," Lebanon's finance ministry said in a statement, without making a reference to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah smuggling attempts
Iran has been repeatedly accused of using civilian flights to smuggle funds to the terror group - resulting in threats issued by the IDF.
The terror group's hold on Lebanon is thought to have dropped following its war with Israel. The terror group began launching rocket attacks on Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after its Iran-backed ally Hamas committed a massacre in southern Israel, resulting in mass evacuations and casualties in Israel's North.
Lebanon's political landscape has been turned on its head since Hezbollah, long a dominant player in Lebanese politics, was badly pummeled in last year's war with Israel.
Reflecting that shift, the new government's policy statement did not include language used in previous years that was seen as legitimizing a role for Hezbollah in defending Lebanon.
"We will work on removing Lebanon from the grey list and start negotiations with the International Monetary Fund," Salam told parliament before the vote. "We will put depositors at the top of our priorities."
Lebanon has been in deep economic crisis since 2019, when its financial system collapsed under the weight of massive state debts, prompting a sovereign default in 2020 and freezing ordinary depositors out of their savings in the banking system.
Israel's strikes on Hezbollah resulted in the terror group experiencing financial hardship, according to an exclusive Voice of America (VOA) report. Israeli military and intelligence leaders also emphasized the need to destroy Hezbollah's finances.
“Hezbollah is facing a very serious financial problem. They are unable to pay rank-and-file members who have fled their homes and need to feed their families,” Hilal Khashan, a Lebanese political science professor, told VOA.