Army Grips Top Arms Dealers in Arsal Raid

The Lebanese army arrested two prominent arms dealers in the northeastern border town of Arsal, media reports said on Friday.

Early today, the army launched raids on the place of residence of a suspect identified as Bachir al-Hujeiri. He was arrested amid heavy gunfire.

Another suspect named Hani al-Diab was also detained. Both detainees are senior arms dealer who smuggled weapons to terrorist organizations, said LBCI.

VDL (93.3) quoted a security source as saying: “The Army Intelligence staged raids in Arsal and arrested al-Hujeiri and Diab both of whom are senior weapons dealers who trade it with terrorist organizations.”

An official army statement said Hujeiri and Diab were also involved in "smuggling rockets to the terrorist groups."