Georges Dib, who had 8.7m TikTok followers, was arrested on Sunday after being sentenced in absentia to life in prison

Known to his 8.7m TikTok followers as Dr Food, Georges Dib was a popular Lebanese food influencer who would hold giveaways, post behind-the-scenes tours of his food production facilities and wax philosophical about the ingredients of success.

But Lebanese authorities allege that when the camera was off, the chef was living a double life. For months they sought his arrest on charges of international drug trafficking and production, accusing him of hiding narcotics in his pastries.

On Sunday, security forces finally managed to track him down to a house in Akkar, north Lebanon, after months of surveillance.

Dib had been sentenced in absentia last month to life imprisonment with hard labour for drug trafficking. Investigators alleged they had found drugs hidden in his branded chocolates and biscuits, intended to be shipped abroad.

The accusation was tied to a 2024 drug bust in which 820kg (1,800lb) of hashish was found hidden in cakes. A warrant had already been issued for his arrest, though it had previously been suspected he was outside the country.

Despite the charges and warrant, Dr Food evaded authorities for a year and a half, continuing to post videos on his TikTok page without addressing the allegations against him. In one video, he filmed himself on Beirut’s Corniche asking any of his followers who had been displaced by the Israel-Hezbollah war what food they missed, so that he could deliver it to them.

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