Disregarding Morocco for the above mentioned reasons, Lebanon is the only country of the region to carry out an important role in the drug trade. In this small country, drugs undergo a complete cycle: from the cultivation of cannabis and opium, to the refinement of hashish, heroin and cocaine, to the export of these substances especially to Europe but also to the United States.

As in Afghanistan, in Lebanon too the drug traffic has served the purpose of financing practically all the conflicting factions in a twenty-year long civil war, despite the fact that the main area of cultivation, the valley of the Bekaa, is long since considered to be controlled by the Syrians, who control the entire country through a co-operation agreement with the Lebanese government (52). Trying to get a clear picture of the combination of interests between drugs and factions in Lebanon is a formidable task, even when it is performed by a newspaper with a reputation for being clear, such as The Economist, which concluded an article on the subject a few years stating that "All this resembles the model of chaos financed by drugs, in some cases sponsored by U.S. agencies, which was inaugurated in South-East Asia in the '50s, developed in Central America in the '70s and now threatens Colombia" (53).

In any case, the Lebanese situation is thus described in the latest annual report of the United Nations: "The traffic of cannabis resin [i.e. hashish] and opiates from Lebanon to Europe and North America, as toward other countries of the region, remains significant. A traffic of transiting cocaine has been discovered, mainly from Brazil. Throughout 1990, more than 250 Kg of heroin have been seized in Europe from more than 100 Lebanese citizens. In the first three months of 1991, about 150 tons of cannabis resin have been seized in Lebanon, a fact which points to a vast production in the country. Cannabis is grown on over 16,000 hectares, especially in the Valley of the Bekaa. The cultivation of poppy occupies about 1,500 hectares. Heroin laboratories operate in the country, using both opium produced internally and in the Middle and Near East. In March 1991, cocaine and chemical agents used for the conversion of coca paste into cocaine were seized, a sign of the presence of cocaine laboratories" (54).

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(52) According to the UNDCP, the Syrians, complying with an explicit request of the U.S. administration advanced in the days of the Gulf War, allegedly destroyed the poppy and cannabis crops in the Valley of the Bekaa. Cf. Ian Hamilton Fazey, "Syria destroys Lebanese drug crop", Financial Times, 8 July 1992.

(53) "Under the influence", The Economist, 30 September 1989. Another praiseworthy attempt to justify the role of the drug traffic in the Lebanese situation may be found in Labrousse, op. cit., pp. 122-54.

(54) INCB 1991 Report, p. 28.