Customs agents seize 18kg of hashish after car chase

‘Suspects still at large, search under way’

By Rana Husseini - Nov 19,2016 - Last updated at Nov 19,2016

AMMAN — The Jordan Customs Department (JCD) on Saturday announced the seizure of 18kg of hashish during a pursuit of two men in Azraq a day earlier.

The incident, which occurred Friday night, involved a JCD patrol unit that attempted to stop a pickup truck, but the driver refused to stop, which led to a pursuit, Director of Public Relations, Media and International Cooperation at JCD Col. Emmad Nosaeir said.

“The passenger in the vehicle started shooting at our patrol, and they returned fire. The exchange lasted around 10 minutes,” Nosaeir, who is also JCD spokesperson, told The Jordan Times.

The patrol agents eventually fired at the vehicle’s tyres to stop it, according to the spokesperson, “and the two suspects managed to escape”.

“No one was injured in the shooting,” the JCD official added.

Upon searching the vehicle, he said, JCD agents found 18kg of hashish, an automatic weapon and JD15,000 in cash.

A senior Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) official told The Jordan Times that the department was notified of the incident and is currently searching for the two suspects.

“We received the needed information about the vehicle that was seized by JCD and we are currently searching for the suspects to learn more about the operation and where they got the drugs from,” the AND official said.

Last week, the Public Security Department (PSD) said AND personnel have dealt with 302 drug-related cases since the beginning of the month, arresting 310 suspects.

Forty-four of these cases involved drug dealing and 255 cases were drug abuse.

Fifty-five of the arrested suspects were reportedly involved in drug dealing.

Earlier this month, PSD Director Maj. Gen. Atef Saudi said that AND has dealt with over 1,564 cases of drug smuggling and dealing, arresting more than 3,126 suspects this year.

Also this year, AND agents dealt with 1,025 cases of drug abuse and conducted 3,450 awareness activities as well as treating 1,068 addicts at the department’s rehabilitation centre, he added.

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