Syrian forces uncover drugs, weapons in Hezbollah-controlled Lebanese border

Syrian forces uncover defunct drug factory in former Hezbollah stronghold near Lebanese border, cracking down on smugglers.

In a desolate area of Syria where Lebanese militant group Hezbollah once held sway, security forces shot open the gates to an abandoned building and found a defunct drug factory.

Syria’s new authorities launched a security campaign last week around Qusayr at the porous Lebanese border, cracking down on drug and weapons smugglers.

They have also accused Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which for years propped up Bashar al-Assad, of firing at them in clashes in the weeks since his ouster.

“We’ve begun to comb factories used by Hezbollah and remnants of the defunct regime,” said Major Nadim Madkhana, who heads Syria’s border security force in Homs province near Lebanon.

Before Syria's war erupted in 2011, Syrians and Lebanese lived side by side in the border area — a mostly tribal region long renowned for smuggling.

In April 2013, Hezbollah announced it was fighting alongside Mr. Assad’s forces and leading battles in the Qusayr area, a rebel stronghold at the time.

After weeks of battles that displaced thousands of Syrians, Hezbollah seized control of the area, establishing bases and weapons depots and digging tunnels — which Israel repeatedly targeted in subsequent years.