Gemayel: Security Agencies Infiltrated by Hizbullah

Kataeb party chief Sami Gemayel on Tuesday said the Lebanese people are “hostage” to an authority “complicit” with Hizbullah, adding that security agencies in Lebanon are infiltrated by Hizbullah.

“We consider that the security services are infiltrated by Hizbullah. Some officials in the security forces have links to the Hizbullah regime and all its followers,” said Gemayel in remarks to al-Arabiya television station.

“The Lebanese people are hostage to an authority exploiting Lebanon as a military platform to export fighters to the world, and also to carry out money laundering operations of the money brought in from drugs and international mafias,”he added.

“Unfortunately the people and Lebanese growers are paying the price of an authority complicit with Hizbullah and facilitating all these operations through the border and state institutions,” the Kataeb chief said.

His remarks come in the aftermath of a Saudi ban on the import of fresh produce from Lebanon over 5 million pills of an amphetamine drug known as Captagon hidden in a shipment of pomegranates smuggled to Saudi Arabia from Lebanon.

Gemayel said the export of illegal products is taking place through legal border crossings between Lebanon and Syria.

“According to information we obtained it confirms that the export passes through the legitimate crossings," he said, noting that "some officials cover the act and let the trucks pass perfectly knowing what it bears.”

The head of the Lebanese fruit and vegetable exporters and importers syndicate however claimed it was a shipment from Syria that had transited through the country.

On Hizbullah’s influence in Lebanon, Gemayel said: