October 9, 2026
The smuggling file through illegal crossings between Lebanon and Syria has returned to record an unusual chapter in criminal innovation. After the security services in the Bekaa Valley revealed that smugglers had converted networks of pipes and hoses extending under the border earthen berms – which were historically designated for pumping diesel and fuel – into channels to pump thousands of liters of liquid milk from Syria towards Lebanese territory.
Underground innovation: 4 tons of milk daily through diesel pipes
- Infrastructure adjustment: Lebanese Army Intelligence was able to monitor and seize hoses buried inside a border dirt berm in the outskirts of the town of Al-Qaa in the Bekaa. They were used to pump and transport Syrian liquid milk directly to the Lebanese side.
- Tactical shift for smugglers: The mayor of Al-Qaa, lawyer Bashir Matar, confirmed that the restrictions on trucks and the confiscation of traditional barrels prompted smuggling networks to exploit former diesel pipelines. The milk is pumped in two periods, morning and evening, at a rate of approx 4 tons per day.
- Joint networks and demands for deterrence: Matar pointed out that the identities of the smugglers are known and include Lebanese and Syrians on both sides of the border, stressing that arresting the smugglers and then releasing them no longer constitutes a real deterrent, and calling for tightening the laws and dismantling the entire chain that benefits commercially and judicially.
Laboratory testing and contamination concerns: Has fuel leaked into dairy and cheese?
The incident raised widespread health concerns about the fate of the smuggled quantities that are believed to have made their way to some bakeries, dairies and cheese factories:
- Research department inspection: The head of the Scientific Agricultural Research Service in Baalbek, Abbas Al-Dirani, explained that he inspected the site accompanied by Army Intelligence, noting that the initial inspection showed that the seized pipes were free of the direct smell of diesel.
- Attractive price difference: Al-Dirani stated that the collapse of the prices of milk and its derivatives in Syria compared to the Lebanese market fuels this illegal trade, revealing that the border was witnessing the flow of about 30 tons of milk daily through various means, in addition to the smuggling of between 1000 and 2000 tins of cheese weekly On board motorcycles and gallons.
This incident reveals the flexibility of border smuggling networks in adapting their routes and mechanisms to circumvent security oversight, transforming former fuel arteries into commercial routes for food products that invade Lebanese markets without accountability or health oversight.
