Moussa Hazimeh
Former Director General of Lebanese Customs
Criminally chargedMoussa Hazimeh served as Director General of Lebanese Customs. Internal letters that surfaced after the 2020 blast showed that customs and port officials had exchanged warnings for years about the stored ammonium nitrate without securing its removal. Those records put the customs administration's leadership, including Hazimeh, under criminal scrutiny.
موسى حازمية هو المدير العام السابق للجمارك اللبنانية، ووُجّهت إليه تهم رسمية في تشرين الثاني 2020 بعد أن أظهرت مراسلات داخلية أن الجمارك حذّرت مراراً من خطورة شحنة نيترات الأمونيوم قبل انفجارها.
The charge
State prosecutor Ghassan Khoury charged Hazimeh and senior customs official Hani Haj Shehadeh in November 2020 in connection with the port explosion. These were among the earliest charges filed in the case and preceded charges against sitting ministers.
The charges relate to Hazimeh's oversight, as the customs administration's top official, of a hazardous cargo that internal correspondence shows was flagged as a risk on multiple occasions before it detonated.
Current status
Hazimeh's case forms part of the port blast investigation that Judge Tarek Bitar formally concluded in March 2026 with an indictment covering roughly 70 defendants. At the February 2025 review, no trial had been held and no conviction recorded.
Timeline
- 2013 to 2020
Warnings ignored
Internal customs and port correspondence repeatedly flags the ammonium nitrate shipment as a hazard.
- Nov 2020
Charged
State prosecutor Ghassan Khoury charges Hazimeh and Shehadeh over the port blast.
- Mar 2026
Investigation concluded
Judge Bitar closes the broader inquiry and refers an indictment covering about 70 people to the prosecution.