Lebanese food influencer sentenced to life for drug smuggling

Georges Hana Dib, known as Dr Food, was sentenced for smuggling hashish out of Lebanon in cake packaging.Beirut, Lebanon – The popular Lebanese food influencer, known as Dr Food and dubbed Lebanon’s Breaking Bad, has been sentenced to life in prison with hard labour for drug smuggling.Hashish reportedly hidden in cake packaging produced in Baalbek in eastern Lebanon was transported to Turkiye and then shipped internationally.Georges Hanna Dib and other Lebanese and Syrian nationals were sentenced under Lebanon’s Narcotics Law, which covers the manufacturing of banned drugs, according to reports.Judge Elie al-Helou, sentenced him to life imprisonment with hard labour and fined him 120 million Lebanese pounds ($1,341).The sentencing comes after a 2024 drug bust involving 820kg (1,800 pounds) of hashish hidden in cake packaging.Dib, who is not a real doctor but has more than five million followers on TikTok, is believed to be out of the country. He and others who were sentenced in their absence were also stripped of their civil rights.Dib was recommended a life sentence and hard labour in February last year when a Lebanon" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="98790" data-entity-type="location">Mount Lebanon investigative judge charged him with “manufacturing, trafficking, and smuggling drugs abroad”.On Sunday, Dr Food’s Instagram page made no mention of the court case or any reaction to the sentencing. The page shared a giveaway that his food product brand was running.People who received the message, posted it on TikTok and received 100,000 views would win $100 from the influencer.In one video posted to Instagram, Dr Food appears to be filming himself in his car but does not address the court’s decision.