06-05-2025
Turkey intercepts 2,000 booby-trapped pagers bound for Lebanon in September
Turkish intelligence services reportedly intercepted at Istanbul airport 2,000 booby-trapped pagers, three days after deadly explosions in Lebanon of these communication devices used by Hezbollah, revealed Turkish newspaper Sabah.
The pagers reportedly arrived from Hong Kong on Sept.16 and were to be shipped to Beirut on Sept. 27. Former Prime Minister Najib Mikati reportedly thanked Turkish President Erdogan in Dec. 2024 for the seizure of these devices during his visit to Ankara, according to Turkish media reports.
In response to these press reports, Hezbollah's media relations officer, Youssef al-Zein, told the local channel LBCI that "it was Hezbollah who informed the Turkish side of the presence of a shipment of booby-trapped pagers at Istanbul airport, which was destined for Lebanon last September."
On Sept.17 and 18, the explosion of Hezbollah's communication devices — the pagers on the first day, and the walkie-talkies on the second — killed at least 40 people, including a child, and injured more than 2,900.
In addition to fighters and members ofHezbollah, Israeli attacks claimed the lives of children and healthcare professionals, while blurring the line between military and civilian targets. The day after the pager explosions, The New York Times learned that Israeli agents tricked Hezbollah by selling a customized pager model, AR-924, under an existing and reputable Taiwanese brand, Gold Apollo.
61 packages bound for Lebanon
Turkish intelligence services reportedly learned on September 20 that similar devices were going to be shipped from Turkish territory to Lebanon, reports the Turkish newspaper Sabah. Taiwanese company SMT Global Logistics Limited reportedly shipped 61 packages weighing a total of 850 kg on board cargo flight TK6141 from Hong Kong, intended to be transported to Lebanon on board cargo flight TK830 Istanbul-Beirut at 6:50 a.m. on Sept. 27. Upon opening the packages, investigators reportedly found 1,300 units, distributed in 26 boxes, of Gold Apollo 924 R3 GP 450-470 MHz model devices with their charging cables, as well as 710 units of Desktop Charger BC-144N, with cables and batteries.
Investigations showed that the chargers contained double batteries inside a metal structure filled with a dark brown liquid flammable substance, which was then injected into the devices. Analysis showed that these explosives could be activated by an electrical short circuit or intense signaling, leading to a deadly explosion.
The former Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, assassinated by Israel on September 27 in Beirut, considered pagers and walkie-talkies more difficult to control than smartphones. Speaking on September 19, he described the explosion of the communication devices as a " severe blow both in terms of security and human terms, unprecedented in the history of resistance (against Israel), at least in Lebanon."
