Army thwarts drug smuggling attempt from Syria

AMMAN — Eastern Military Zone personnel on Thursday thwarted an attempt to infiltrate and smuggle "large" quantities of narcotics coming from Syria. 

An official military source at the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF) said that army personnel, in cooperation with security agencies, searched the area and found illicit items, which were seized and handed over to relevant authorities, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The source stressed that the JAF will continue to deal with any threat to Jordan's borders "firmly", and will foil any endeavours intended to undermine and destabilise the Kingdom's security.

JAF had previously reported some incidents of smugglers opening fire at border guards in an attempt to enter the Kingdom "by force”.

The largest smuggling operation was in January 2022 when the army announced that it had killed 27 infiltrators as they tried to smuggle “large amounts” of narcotics from Syria into the Kingdom.

According to JAF figures, a total of 194 smuggling and infiltration attempts have been recorded during the January-August period of 2023.

The army said that border guards on the northeastern border with Syria have also dealt with 88 smuggling attempts using drones that carried narcotics and explosives.

In 2022, the army said that it dealt with 383 smuggling and infiltration attempts that also resulted in the seizure of large quantities of narcotics and weapons.

JAF said that 361 smuggling attempts from Syria were foiled and about 15.5 million narcotic pills were seized in 2021.

In the previous year, more than 130 smuggling attempts from Syria in 2020 were foiled and about 132 million amphetamine pills and 15,000 sheets of hashish were seized, the army said.

During a landmark meeting in Amman on May 1, 2023, Syria agreed to take effective measures towards curbing drug trafficking across its southern borders with Jordan.

Jordan, which shares a 378-kilometre-long border with Syria, has been warning of flourishing drug trade in the northern neighbour, posing cross-border threats to the kingdom, the region, and the rest of the world.

According to international reports, Syria had become a narco-state and a main site for a multi-billion-dollar drug trade.