Lebanon has undertaken a sweeping security overhaul at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport in a bid to clamp down on Hezbollah-linked smuggling operations, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told the WSJ that the changes are already yielding results.

“You can feel the difference,” Salam said. “We’re doing better on smuggling for the first time in the contemporary history of Lebanon.”

According to senior Lebanese security and military officials cited in the report, the measures include the suspension of flights from Iran since February, the dismissal of airport personnel with alleged Hezbollah ties, and the implementation of advanced surveillance tools, including systems powered by artificial intelligence.

The officials emphasized that no flights are exempt from inspection under the new protocols. Security sources told the paper that airport inspection teams no longer receive directives from superiors to exempt particular flights or passengers from screening, a practice that allegedly benefited Hezbollah in the past. Instead, all incoming and outgoing flights are now subject to uniform procedures.

One recent success cited in the report involved Lebanese authorities foiling an attempt to smuggle more than 22 kilograms (over 50 pounds) of gold through the airport, believed to be destined for Hezbollah.

“There is reason for hope here,” a senior U.S. official involved in the international ceasefire mechanism told the WSJ. “It has only been six or seven months, and we have stepped to a place that I am not sure I thought was achievable back in November.”

Hezbollah has long been accused of using Lebanon’s ports of entry to transport arms and funds, particularly via routes linked to Tehran and Damascus. But recent developments, including the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December, have dealt significant blows to the group’s regional logistics networks.

According to the WSJ, Hezbollah officials have acknowledged increased difficulties in using the airport to transfer funds. 

In addition to surveillance upgrades, Lebanese authorities are said to be investing in digital tracking systems to monitor cargo and passenger data more efficiently. “

The Lebanese state is installing new surveillance technologies that will incorporate artificial intelligence,” a senior security official said.

The international response has been cautiously optimistic. U.S. and Israeli military officials expressed “satisfaction with the Lebanese government’s measures to curb Hezbollah’s control over ports and its weapons in the south of the country,” according to the report.

One senior American official noted, “We’ve reached a point I didn’t think was achievable back in November.”