Taiwanese, Hungarian firms at centre of Lebanon's Hezbollah pager blast mystery

A Taiwanese manufacturing firm has been thrust into what has become a global paper trail over how pagers used by Lebanese group Hezbollah exploded in a major espionage attack on Tuesday that has been widely blamed on Israel.

Gold Apollo in New Taipei had its office raided by police on Wednesday, with its director facing international media questions, after it was revealed that the exploded pagers in Lebanon bore the company's hallmark.

Taiwan's government on Wednesday announced that a judicial investigation led by its national security team had been launched into the company's workings.

But the firm has denied a role in manufacturing the pagers that were being used by thousands of Hezbollah members in Lebanon and Syria, and instead said it issued a license to a firm in Budapest.

The Taiwanese government also denied that pagers have been exported to Lebanon and said that pagers made in Taiwan cannot explode. 

But intense speculation remains on how the devices were able to detonate and cause carnage at a time of heightened regional tensions with the Gaza war and renewed Israeli threats of a major confrontation with Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah.

At least 12 people, including children, have been killed by the explosions which thrust Lebanon into a state of emergency as thousands of people with facial and limb injuries were rushed to hospitals.

Early reports have suggested that the devices, more commonly used in the 1990s, were tampered within the supply chain, which is now being traced to Europe.

Gold Apollo founder and president Hsu Ching-kuang told reporters on Wednesday that a Budapest based firm BAC Consultancy, who they have authorised to use their brand name, is responsible for manufacturing the pagers.

"There is an agent in Europe whom we have cooperated with for three years, they are the agent for all of our products," Hsu told reporters on Wednesday.

Hsu said earlier there had been problems with remittances from the firm.

"The remittance was very strange," he said, adding that payments had come through the Middle East.

Lebanese security sources have said that the pagers, thought to be used by as many as 3,000 individuals in Lebanon, were from Gold Apollo, but the Taiwanese company's links to the Middle East are unclear.

Some media reports have suggested that a few grams of explosive material PENT were inserted into 3,000 of the pagers and exploded a few seconds after they rang on Tuesday afternoon.

The company said in a statement on Wednesday that the AR-924 model – confirmed to be the model which detonated in Lebanon - was produced and sold by BAC.

Taiwan’s ministry of foreign affairs said that “Taiwan did not directly export these pagers to Lebanon” and reiterated that the pager’s components cannot cause an explosion, Taiwanese journalist Tingting Liu reported on X.

Also on Wednesday, the ministry of economic affairs released Gold Apollo’s export records that showed from January to August 2024, the firm exported 254 pagers to Hungary. The firm’s top export destination was the United States with some 24,700 items, followed by Hong Kong, Australia, The Netherlands and France, according to details shared by Tingting.

But even with the trail moving to Hungary, the ministry of economic affairs stated that the assembly of the pagers are completed in Taiwan, suggesting that the products were tampered with after export, Taiwanese broadcaster TVBS reported.

Trail leads to Europe

Efforts have been made to establish information about the alleged pager manufacturer, BAC Consulting, but the firm has little online footprint. The company’s LinkedIn page says BAC Consulting "animates environmental, political, and development projects of broad scope and complexity".

Its website was down on Wednesday, although archived screenshots shared online showed it did not mention operations in the Middle East nor ties to Gold Apollo.

The company, founded in 2022, is involved in computer game publishing, IT consulting and crude oil extraction, according to Reuters.

BAC Consulting CEO Christiana Barsony-Arcidiacono told NBC News on Wednesday that her company worked with Gold Apollo but denied making the pagers.  She said: “I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong.”

The CEO appears as the only employee of the company on legal documents, according to AFP.

Reuters visited the address listed on the company website on Wednesday and found a pink-coloured building in a residential area of Budapest’s suburbs. It said the company’s name was printed onto a piece of paper and stuck on the door.

If further details are revealed which lead the attack to Europe, questions will arise over the EU's responsibility and whether there have been legal breaches, if explosive material was fitted into a device within its borders.

Lebanese security sources have alleged that the devices were likely infiltrated by Israel during the supply chain process which has prompted questions over whether BAC Consulting in Hungary is a proxy group.

A source close to Hezbollah, asking not to be identified, previously told AFP that "the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices" which appear to have been "sabotaged at source".