Armed clashes between government forces and Hezbollah-backed group in Syria’s Daraa
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – Armed clashes erupted between pro-Syrian government forces the Fifth Corps, supported by Russia, and a group said to be a “drug trafficking gang” affiliated with Lebanese Hezbollah, south of Busra al-Sham region in the southern countryside of Daraa, on Friday.
“Clashes between the Fifth Corps and a pro-Hezbollah drug smuggling gang took place south of Busra al-Sham,” a military source in the Eighth Brigade (affiliated with the Fifth Corps) told North Press.
“The clashes resulted in the wounding of two smugglers and the arrest of four members of the gang,” the source added.
In addition, a quantity of drugs and Captagon pills, estimated at 10,000 narcotic pills and 200 kg of hashish, were seized, which were intended to be smuggled into Jordan.
The investigations with the smugglers showed, “the existence of ties that bind them to leaders of Hezbollah and a smuggling network located in Jordan, Daraa and Suwayda,” according to the source.
Mas’oud al-Da’rawi, 45, a pseudonym for a civil activist who resides in Busra al-Sham, told North Press that Hezbollah is “the only promoter of drugs in southern Syria.”
He added that this phenomenon is spreading in schools, cafes and other promotion centers throughout Daraa.
He indicated that they are brought through the Qalamoun region in the western countryside of Damascus, which is under the control of Hezbollah, and then to the Daraa and Suwayda governorates.
Smuggling and drug trafficking are considered one of the main financial sources in financing Hezbollah’s military activity in southern Syria, according to the same source.
Southern Syria has been witnessing an active move of drug traffickers, under the cover and protection of the Lebanese Hezbollah and government security officers since 2018.