Bitter hatred and animosity aren’t stopping Shiite Lebanese farmers from selling weed to their sworn enemies — Sunni Islamic State militants — because, well, that’s business.
The Daily Beast spoke with farmers in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, supporters of the embattled Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, who are selling marijuana to Islamic State militants.
Lebanese Shiites typically support Syria’s Assad as a longtime regional ally, and the Islamic State, controlling territory in Syria and Iraq, are staunch enemies of the regime. Additionally, in Iraq, the Islamic State is fighting Iran-backed Shiite militias.
One source who spoke to The Daily Beast said he sold a ton of hash to Islamic State recruits just last month. According to Daily Beast contributor Jesse Rosenfeld, the exchange also included “some coke and pills.”
But the 50 year-old farmer once fought with Hezbollah, a Shiite Lebanese terror organization, against the Islamic State in Syria. And Islamic State jihadis beheaded one of his relatives in the northeastern Lebanese town of Arsal, something the father of six vows to avenge.
The Lebanese military, preoccupied with defending the border from incursions by the Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliate al-Nusra front, is unable to crackdown on the illicit industry. Traditional trade routes to Turkey and Jordan are obstructed, resulting in a plentiful harvest with few accessible markets. Demand from Islamic State militants is what keeps farms profitable.
Just last year, a video surfaced of ISIS fighters purportedly burning a cannabis field in Syria, with jihadis denouncing “the evils of drug-taking,” reports The Huffington Post. But it appears the rigor of Islamic law isn’t keeping all radicals away from weed.
Sunnis, Shiites and Christians oftentimes live side-by-side in the Lebanese valley. Syrian refugees are supposedly used to process the drug, and “Christian army officers smuggle it out,” according to a source who spoke to The Daily Beast.
Although most product winds up in Arab countries, The Daily Beast describes an intriguing scenario for how small amounts of weed are exchanged with Israelis. “It travels either via Jordan or in bags that are tossed over the closed border fence between Lebanon and northern Israel in exchange for bags of cash thrown back,” writes Rosenfeld.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.