Lebanon's drug-producing heartland is back in business with a resurgence of marijuana and poppy fields, challenging the country's underpowered security forces and adding another dimension to Israel's war with Hezbollah militants.

Associated Press (AP) interviews with farmers and Lebanese officials, and documents from international organisations that monitor drugs, show that the drug trade in the Bekaa Valley has ramped up again since its drop following the 1975-1990 civil war.

Israel's Anti-Drug Authority claims Hezbollah is behind the flow of cross-border drugs as part of its war on the Jewish state. Hezbollah denies abetting drugs, saying it's un-Islamic.

Production in the Bekaa peaked during the civil war, then died down to the point where the United States removed Lebanon from its list of big producers in 1997.

But on a recent visit by the AP, acres of cannabis were seen growing behind concealing stands of tall corn stalks, and farmers spoke openly of the fortunes they are making off the plants.

The Lebanese government, long preoccupied with violent political clashes in the country, has begun striking back by plowing up fields. It's hard to pin down independently what role Hezbollah plays in the trade, but the flat, green Bekaa Valley, with its sunny Mediterranean climate and terrorism-filled history, is a Hezbollah stronghold.

In a speech last month, he claimed the Israelis were trying to put a political spin on what in his view is simply a drug operation run by Lebanese drug dealers in collusion with Israeli border guards. Israeli police say that based on evidence gathered from interrogating busted traffickers, nothing happens on the Lebanon-Israel border without Hezbollah's consent.

Gathering intelligence

Aram Nerguizian, an expert at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, says Hezbollah has enough financial support without depending on drug money, but uses the drug trade to gather intelligence on the Israeli military.

Shamai Golan, a spokesman for Israel's Anti-Drug Authority, agrees the main goal is to gather intelligence information, but also to weaken Israeli society. In 2006, an Israeli army lieutenant colonel, Omar el-Heib, was sent to jail for 15 years for relaying maps and information about tank positions, troop deployments and the whereabouts of top Israeli commanders to Hezbollah in exchange for heroin, hashish, and thousands of dollars.

- AP