Jordan: Army Foils Drug Smuggling Attempt from Syria

Arab World

January 18th, 8:09am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Jordanian security forces vehicle (AFP)

Jordan on Tuesday thwarted an attempt to infiltrate and smuggle large quantities of narcotics from Syrian territory. An official military source at Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF) said that Border Guard patrols, in coordination with security agencies, spotted a group of smugglers trying to illegally cross into Jordan from the Syrian border. The source said quick response patrols rushed to the site, opening fire at the smugglers. One of them was injured forcing the others to retreat. After an intensive search of the area, 11 million Captagon pills and 4,049 palm-sized sheets of hashish were seized, in addition to a large amount of ammunition, all of which were handed over to the relevant authorities. The source stressed that the JAF will continue to deal with any threat to Jordan's borders "firmly", and will foil any attempts intended to undermine and destabilize the Kingdom's security and terrorize its citizens. Smuggling on the Jordanian-Syrian border is more active during the winter months as smugglers take advantage of the fog and rainy weather to cover their illegal activities despite the presence of fixed and mobile patrols along the 270-km border with Syria.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4104846/jordan-army-foils-drug-smuggling-attempt-syria