Police publishes photos, names of wanted drug dealers

AMMAN — Security experts on Thursday said the Public Security Department’s (PSD) step to publish photos and names of wanted alleged drug dealers is a message that the Kingdom is serious about combating illegal narcotics smuggling through its borders.

 The PSD, in cooperation with the State Security Court’s attorney general office, published on Thursday the names and photos of eight of the “most dangerous and wanted suspects in illicit drug operations”.

The eight wanted men, “who have ties with regional and international gangs, are very active, armed and extremely dangerous”, according to Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi.

“The eight men have multiple SSC convictions in absentia against them and all at large, Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

The police official, who was quoted in a PSD statement, said the suspects are all hiding near the desert borders and “pose threats to the national security and stability”.

“Publishing photos with names and details of the suspects’ offences and previous convictions is new and a clear message that the Kingdom will not tolerate illicit drug trafficking,” Shorufat Centre for Globalisation and Terrorism Studies founder and chairman Brig. Gen. Saud Sharafat said.

Shorufat, a former General Intelligence Department (GID) official, told The Jordan Times that the eight men all belong to the same clan who are from Mafraq Governorate and live near the Jordanian-Iraqi borders.

“This clan also has members who extend to the Syrian borders,” according to Shorufat.

The former GID official added that “the area they live in is a black spot because it is known for its busy illegal smuggling from both Iraq and Syria”.

Shorufat also said that he believes the recent move by the PSD comes in response to “a recent statement by the Syrian government claims about the Jordanian borders with Syria being a 'source of threat to Syria or passage for terrorists' into the northern neighbour”.

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday responded to the claims by the Syrian government by affirming that smuggling of drugs and arms from Syria to Jordan undermines national security, reiterating the Kingdom’s determination to eliminate the “danger and its backers”.

The ministry’s spokesperson Sufian Qudah said that Jordan has provided Syria during meetings of the joint committee with names of smugglers and the parties supporting them and the regions, where drugs are manufactured and stored, but “no concrete action has been taken to neutralise the danger”.

He also said that drug smuggling attempts from Syria have increased significantly, voicing the Kingdom’s readiness to coordinate with the Syrian government to stop smuggling operations and bring to justice smugglers and their backers. 

“Jordan is firm in combating and eliminating drug smuggling,” the spokesperson said. 

He said that Jordan, which hosts more than 1.3 million Syrians, is keen on the security of Syria and the safety of its brotherly people, especially in the bordering provinces of Daraa and Suwayda.

GID Retired Brig. Gen. Omar Raddad agreed with Shorufat saying that “it comes as a response to the Syrian government’s statement”.

“The Kingdom wanted to send a clear message that illegal drugs and armed smuggling from Syria to Jordan has been happening since the 1970s,” Raddad, a strategic security expert, told The Jordan Times.

Therefore, Raddad added, “the security forces want to make it clear that they are after the heads of the gangs in Jordan and that the state is not only putting the blame on the Syrian side”.

In addition, Raddad added that it is also an internal message to the public who has been wondering “to whom are these illegal drugs and weapons being smuggled”.

“The security agencies are sending a message that they are working clearly and transparently to target heads of armed smugglers,” Radad said.

The PSD warned in its statement against aiding, abetting or dealing with these dangerous wanted suspects and called on the public to cooperate with the security authorities and report any information about them and their criminal activities.

The public must contribute to protecting society and help in their arrest, the PSD statement added.