BAALBEK,Lebanon: The warehouse was swirling with cannabis dust, workers with covered faces sorting the harvest that was piled in mounds.

They had their hands full at the mini-factory outside Baalbek sorting through one of the largest fall harvests in recent years, one that many farmers in the Bekaa Valley see as a lifeline amid a stagnant economy.

"We decided here that we do not want people to go hungry," Ali Nasri, a prominent cannabis farmer in the Bekaa Valley, told The Daily Star. "Instead of stealing, plant hashish and confront the state."

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In Lebanon, Where All Eyes Are on a Neighbouring Country Tearing Itself Apart, a Multi-Million-Dollar Drug Trade Is Flourishing Like Never Before

LEBANON'S drug kingpin watched his workers sink spades into the piles of marijuana that banked the walls of his factory, throwing the chopped plants on to machines that sifted out the top-quality hash bound for Britain's streets.

The secret processing plant outwardly an unremarkable cow barn stands on a hillside overlooking the fertile plains of the Bekaa Valley, where cannabis is once again a multi-million-dollar drug trade.

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The Syrian civil war has led to a surge in cannabis production in Lebanon as the country's army is forced to focus on security rather than drug eradication.

In the BekaaValley,Ali Nasri Shamas carries a revolver by his side and an automatic rifle in the back of his car, weapons he says he's ready to use if the army moves in to try to destroy his lucrative cannabis crop.

But he may not need them this year. With Syria's civil war 30 miles away, Lebanese security forces have other priorities than their annual showdown with the Bekaa hashish growers.

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Hardy Crop Brings Big Profit for Farmers As Syria Conflict Diverts Troops From Drug Eradication

BEKAA VALLEY, Lebanon (Reuters) - Driving around his Bekaa Valley farmland, Ali Nasri Shamas carries a revolver by his side and an automatic rifle in the back of his car, weapons he says he's ready to use if the army moves in to try to destroy his lucrative cannabis crop.

But he may not need them this year. With Syria's civil war raging 50 km away, Lebanese security forces have other priorities than their annual showdown with the Bekaa hashish growers.

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The latest police seizure of Captagon pills, around 12 million this time, must be commended, but until the problem is addressed at the source, the story looks set to continue, and the market will continue to overflow with the drug.

Every week or so, it seems, another consignment of the amphetamine is found, whether at the airport, the border with Syria, or at the port. This latest haul was discovered at the Beirut port, and two of the four individuals arrested were port staff themselves. Allegedly headed for the United Arab Emirates, and hidden in bags of corn, this huge quantity of drugs raises many questions.

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