Drug smuggling tactics from Syria evolve despite decline – Researcher
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Drug smuggling operations from Syria into Jordan have undergone a shift in recent months, even as their frequency has declined compared to the period before the fall of the al-Assad regime, a Jordanian researcher said on Tuesday.
Nidal Abu Zaid, a Jordanian strategic researcher, told North Press that smugglers are adopting increasingly unconventional methods to traffic captagon. He pointed to a recent case in which smugglers attempted to use primitive balloons to transport drugs across the border, describing it as an illustration of evolving tactics.
Abu Zaid stressed that arms smuggling is no longer a primary concern, as the trade now centers almost exclusively on captagon, which poses a persistent security threat to Jordan.
He underscored the challenges of controlling the 250-kilometer stretch of border between Syria’s Salkhad and the Jordan-Syria-Iraq triangle, calling it “extremely difficult to achieve full control over this area.”
The researcher described a “geographical shift” in smuggling routes toward the Rukban area, linking it to the activity of Iranian-backed militias that previously relocated to Iraq’s Akashat region near the cement factory.
He suggested these groups have either re-entered Syria carrying drugs or are receiving shipments inside Syrian territory before funneling them into Jordan through established routes.
Abu Zaid emphasized that the challenge cannot be addressed by Jordan or Syria alone, but requires coordinated regional action.
“Captagon does not originate solely from Syria, but also from Lebanon,” he said. “Addressing the issue requires joint regional measures to tighten border control across Syria’s frontiers with Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Turkey.”
On Monday, the Jordanian army announced it had intercepted two smuggling attempts involving balloons on the Syrian border.