Pubdate: Mon, 05 Aug 2002
Source: The Daily Star (Lebanon)
Contact:  http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/547

SOBH SAYS 50,000 DUNUMS OF HASHISH FIELDS DESTROYED

The commander of the Judicial Police, Brigadier Samir Sobh, said Saturday 
that over 50,000 dunums of hashish fields had been destroyed, as the second 
phase of cannabis eradication reached its eleventh day.

Members of the Anti-Drug Bureau, the Internal Security Forces and the 
Lebanese Army joined forces with Syrian security forces in Lebanon to carry 
out the eradication operation in Baalbek-Hermel fields for the eleventh 
consecutive day.

Sobh told reporters in a field located in the Shleefa-Iaat area of Baalbek 
that no security incidents had been reported yet.

He said that about 2,000 dunums of cannabis had been destroyed in the North 
as well as some 53,000 dunums in the Bekaa, and that about 5,000 dunums 
were being uprooted daily.

Sobh added that the bureau added 300 tractors and 200 workers to speed up 
work, indicating that the cost of the campaign has exceeded LL200 million.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom