Investigations conducted by the Information Division of the Internal Security Forces, under the supervision of the discriminatory Public Prosecutor, Judge Ahmed Rami Al-Hajj, revealed the existence of a network led by a Syrian general from the former regime residing in Moscow, conducting military training inside a Hezbollah camp, led by the so-called “Abu Alaa,” in the northern Bekaa region, after smuggling weapons from Syria across the northern border.

Investigations revealed that five people have been arrested so far, including three Syrians and two Lebanese brothers, including Colonel in the former Syrian regime, Ali Safi, who previously served as Commander of the Air Forces in the Syrian coastal region, while the search is still ongoing for others linked to the network.

It was also found that among those arrested was one of the companions of a political official, a member of the State Security Service, who, after his brother was arrested, hid the weapons in a house in Akkar, after they were on their way to the camp in the Bekaa. The weapons, which consisted of large quantities of military rifles, sniper rifles and hand grenades, were seized after they were placed in an orchard in one of the villages of Akkar.

Investigations also revealed that the detainees explicitly admitted to establishing a Hezbollah camp in the Bekaa, “to carry out security operations on the Syrian coast under the supervision of Hezbollah members.”

The network had been under monitoring for about two weeks, after it was discovered that Syrians had been smuggled across the northern border in groups of no more than five people each, and taken to the southern suburb, and from there to the Bekaa, to conduct military training.

Investigation sources indicated that Safi was working under the cover of a coffee seller in Akkar, while one of the two Lebanese brothers was among the Internal Security Forces before he was expelled, due to his previous participation in the kidnapping of Syrian opponents inside Lebanon.

The investigation also documented conversations between members of the groups and determined their geographical locations, before monitoring them and arresting five of them