November 6, 2026
The confrontation between the Public Prosecutor of Appeal in Mount Lebanon, Judge Sami Sader, and the corruption networks and drug traffickers has crossed the borders of the Lebanese interior, taking on a cross-border character against the backdrop of the thorny files he has opened since assuming his judicial duties.
In a development that reflects the amount of pressure passing by, Judge Sader received threatening calls and messages via his personal phone from multiple numbers originating from Belgium, the Netherlands, and Argentina, while he was in the French capital, Paris. The messages carried clear references to monitoring his external movements, in an attempt to pressure him following the painful strikes directed by the security services under his direct supervision to organized crime networks, especially dismantling what is considered the largest drug gang in the history of the Lebanese judiciary.
Since taking office, Sader has led two main tracks in the fight against crime: the first targeted the networks of corruption and brokerage penetrating the vicinity of official institutions and palaces of justice, especially in Baabda and its environs. His directives to the Information Division and the Baabda Judicial Detachment, led by Colonel Mohamed Berjawi, in addition to the State Security Service, resulted in the arrest of a number of people suspected of involvement in brokering and tampering with judicial files. Its procedures also included raiding warehouses and centers for smuggling and counterfeiting expired medicines, prosecuting members of those networks and referring them to the first investigating judge in Mount Lebanon.
It is noteworthy that Sader has a long track record in dealing with complex security files, after spending many years as the government’s assistant commissioner to the military court, where he handled extremely sensitive cases related to Israel’s spy networks, terrorist organizations, and state security files.
The broader and more ferocious path was represented by the fierce war he waged against drug networks. After intensive coordination meetings with security leaders to determine oversight mechanisms and simultaneous raids, his judicial referrals during the past month alone resulted in the arrest of 118 merchants and promoters red-handed, and the dismantling of several organized groups, while judicial detachments are still tracking about 120 wanted persons who are out of sight.
In a humanitarian and social approach parallel to the security campaign, Sader dealt with about 560 drug users who were released after interrogation with the guarantee of their families to admit them to specialized treatment centers, distinguishing between major poison dealers and victims of addiction.
The cross-border threatening messages, which revealed the accuracy of their senders’ information, did not affect the course of judicial and security work. The Public Prosecution of Appeal in Mount Lebanon continues to give firm instructions to complete the dismantling of criminal networks and arrest all those involved, amid questions as to whether these threats are an attempt to dissuade him from carrying out his duties, or an expression of the extent of the vital interests that have been damaged as a result of the recent judicial and security strikes.
