Suspect detained, three at large in Captagon smuggling attempt

AMMAN — Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) agents last week arrested one suspect and are looking for three others who were in possession of 1.2 million Captagon pills in a southern governorate, officials said on Saturday.

AND received a tip that “a man had a large stash of illegal pills which he intended to deliver to another individual in the south,” a senior AND official told The Jordan Times.

“We monitored the suspect and gathered information on the date, time and route he intended to take to make the delivery,” the official said.

He added that on February 14, AND agents intercepted the suspect’s vehicle but he sped off.

“A pursuit followed and the suspect managed to flee on foot after his vehicle’s tyres were shot out by our pursuing team. He shot back at our officers but no one was injured,” the official said.

Authorities arrested the suspect a few days later, according to a statement by the Public Security Department (PSD).

“The suspect confessed to conducting the operation with the help of three others who are still at large,” the PSD statement added.

A search is under way for the others, while the main suspect was referred to the State Security Court prosecutor for further questioning, according to the PSD statement. 

Officials have previously said that Jordan is still considered a transit country when it comes to Captagon smuggling.

These pills are usually manufactured and transported from neighbouring countries in the north via Jordan to rich countries on the southern borders, because one Captagon pill is worth at least JD7 in these states, while its market value in Jordan does not exceed JD1 per pill.

Captagon (fenethylline) is a synthetic stimulant similar to amphetamine.

Although banned in most countries in the 1980s, illegally produced and smuggled Captagon — sometimes containing amphetamine instead of fenethylline — is a common drug abused in the Middle East, according to web sources.