BEIRUT — Lebanese authorities detained a relative of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad and the son of a notorious drug trafficker in northeastern Lebanon on Saturday, charging them with weapons and drug offenses, officials and the military said.
Suleiman Assad and Ali Zeiter, son of suspected drug dealer Noah Zeiter — arrested last year — were apprehended Friday near Baalbek, according to two judicial officials who spoke anonymously due to lack of media authorization. Suleiman Assad is the son of Hilal Assad, a cousin of the former Syrian president.
Following the end of the Assad family’s five-decade rule in December 2024 — when Islamist rebels seized control of Syria — numerous Syrian officials and relatives of the former president have fled to Lebanon and other countries. Bashar Assad and his younger brother, Maher, currently reside in Russia.
The Lebanese army stated it detained three individuals, including a Syrian national without documentation for legal residency in Lebanon.
Authorities reported the detainees possessed weapons and hashish — a cannabis derivative widely cultivated in northeastern Lebanon. While names were not released, initials matched those of Assad and Zeiter. The individuals were questioned under judicial supervision.
Suleiman Assad’s arrest follows Lebanon’s recent handover of a retired major general — who once commanded a division in Bashar Assad’s army — to Syrian authorities several weeks prior.
