Kesrouan Forest Ranger Detained Over Firewood Bribery Scheme
According to Lebanon's General Directorate of State Security, a forest ranger in Kesrouan has been detained and later released on bond after admitting to accepting bribes from firewood traders in exchange for transport and purchase permits.
The arrest followed information gathered by the Kesrouan office of the Mount Lebanon regional directorate about collusion between the ranger and several traders, leading to a patrol operation and a detention order from the Public Financial Prosecution under Judge Maher Zain on September 1, 2026.
What the case actually involves
The detained ranger, identified as Sh. S., allegedly accepted payments from three traders — A. J., M. J., and R. J. — calculated as a percentage in return for facilitating the paperwork needed to move and purchase firewood in Kesrouan. During the investigation, the ranger reportedly admitted to receiving a monetary payment for every ton of firewood sold to those individuals. Charges fall under abusing his position for personal gain; a search and investigation bulletin was issued against the named traders, the case file was sealed, and the matter was referred to the competent judicial authority to continue legal proceedings.
Why this matters for our grower networks
For our cooperatives and the small-scale producers we work with, permit systems are the invisible plumbing of the trade — the layer that decides whether a load of apples, olives, or yes, firewood moves cleanly from the mountain to the market. When that plumbing leaks, it is honest growers and cooperative-run shipments that pay the price through longer waits, inconsistent enforcement, and a slow erosion of trust between rural communities and the offices meant to serve them. Incidents like this one are a reminder that the integrity of the permit chain matters just as much as the integrity of the cold chain.
A practical step worth taking together
Across many seasons, we have seen that cooperatives which formalize their own documentation and keep clean records of every permit issued are far better positioned to flag irregularities early. If your collective still relies on individual relationships with local forestry or municipal offices, this is a gentle nudge to start pooling that paperwork: keep copies of every transport permit, log the issuing officer, and share a monthly summary across the membership. A shared ledger of legitimate transactions is one of the simplest shields we can build together against the quiet erosion this Kesrouan case lays bare — and a small but steady contribution to the kind of transparent trade our harvests deserve.