Lebanon on Sunday arrested an online influencer known for his videos about food who had been handed a life sentence in absentia for drug trafficking, a judicial source told AFP.
Georges Dib, known on TikTok as “Doctor Food” and followed by more than eight million accounts, was apprehended at his home in the far north governorate of Akkar, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Dib, who also owns a confectionery business, would be taken to a detention centre in Mount Lebanon, where he would face a new trial on further drug trafficking charges, the source added.
Two years ago, the Lebanese judiciary issued a warrant for Dib, accusing him of “manufacturing narcotics, trafficking and smuggling them abroad,” according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).
The NNA said at the time that authorities had seized confectionery and other food products at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport that contained narcotics and were manufactured in factories owned by Dib.
The products were to be shipped to a Gulf country, the news agency reported.
Despite an arrest warrant and conviction against him, Dib continued to post videos on TikTok.
Last month, after news of his conviction was made public, he denied the accusations in one of his videos, urging followers not to listen to what was being said about him.
Dib rose to prominence on social media posting content about cooking and daily life with his ex-wife, known as Shorouk, a Canadian of Palestinian origin who has more than 15 million followers.
They separated after she accused him of abuse. On Saturday night, she held a “divorce party” at a seaside resort in Lebanon attended by thousands of her followers.
