Hezbollah has facilitated the escape of more than twenty members of the Assad regime’s “Execution Squad” from Lebanon, leveraging its influence to secure them forged Lebanese biometric passports, Nidaa Al-Watan revealed on Tuesday.

In May, a military investigation uncovered a network forging passports to help wanted individuals escape Lebanon in exchange for bribes worth tens of thousands of dollars. Among the beneficiaries were Syrian drug trafficker Fayez Al-Abd and Palestinian dealer Nour Masriyeh.

Fayez Al-Abd, who escaped custody from General Security in May, fled to Turkey via Beirut’s airport using a genuine biometric passport with falsified data. He later admitted to paying substantial bribes to facilitate his escape. Similarly, Masriyeh, arrested while attempting to flee to Syria, revealed during interrogation that multiple individuals had obtained forged passports through the same network.

Following Masriyeh’s arrest, General Security expanded its investigation, revealing how officers exploited a system designed for exceptional cases, such as issuing passports for medical emergencies. Two officers were found to have taken advantage of this system by falsifying records to process passports illegally. The forgery network also included a former mukhtar (local head) in the Bekaa region who provided fake residency documents.

The case was transferred to the Military Court, with General Security requesting severe penalties for those involved. Consequently, Acting Director General Elias  Baysari has implemented stern measures, including tighter controls on passport applications and stricter oversight of mukhtars issuing residency certificates.

Weeks after these incidents, several blank biometric passports disappeared from General Security. Sources confirmed that these passports ended up in Hezbollah's possession. According to Nidaa Al-Watan, the same network responsible for forging passports for drug traffickers provided these blank biometric passports to Hezbollah.

The passports have reportedly been used for two purposes:

1. Espionage and Security: Since the establishment of General Security, arrangements have existed to issue passports under false names for intelligence operations. With Hezbollah’s deteriorating relations with Arab states like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the organization allegedly used these passports to infiltrate such countries under aliases, sometimes even adopting Christian names like “Joseph” or “Tony” with records tied to predominantly Christian areas.
2. Emergency Scenarios: Hezbollah reportedly kept a stock of blank passports for emergencies, such as aiding fugitives or key figures in escaping.