Jordan thwarts two drug smuggling attempts along Syrian border
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Jordanian authorities on Sunday said they have thwarted two attempts to smuggle large quantities of narcotics into the kingdom using electronically guided balloons along the country’s eastern border, according to state media.
The Border Guard Forces, in coordination with the Anti-Narcotics Department, intercepted the smuggling attempts and seized an undisclosed quantity of drugs, Petra News Agency reported.
The latest seizures come as Jordan continues to intensify efforts to combat cross-border drug trafficking, particularly along its frontier with Syria.
Jordanian authorities have stepped up anti-smuggling operations in recent years. Last month, the country’s State Security Court sentenced a convicted drug trafficker to death after he was found guilty of killing three security personnel during an arrest operation in eastern Amman.
Since 2018, Jordan has served as a major transit route for narcotics produced in Syria and Lebanon, particularly captagon, an amphetamine-type stimulant destined largely for Gulf markets, including Saudi Arabia.
Jordanian officials say drug trafficking from Syria has declined since the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
However, security officials warn that traffickers have adapted their methods, increasingly relying on electronically guided balloons and other advanced techniques to move captagon and other narcotics across the border.
In May, Jordan’s air force carried out strikes on suspected drug production facilities, workshops, and storage sites in Suwayda Governorate, southern Syria that the military said were being used to facilitate cross-border smuggling operations.