Narcotics war: Jordan cracking down on pro-Iran militia in Syria

Noura Bandari

Jordan still faces the hazards that emanate from the smuggling of narcotics into it from Syria.

The Hashemite Kingdom has always considered this smuggling a direct threat to it.

It asked the Syrian government repeatedly to put an end to drug smuggling operations to its territory.

Amman even threatened to take escalatory steps to put an end to the smuggling of drugs by pro-Iran militias in Syria into it.

This smuggling, it said, jeopardizes the security and stability of the shared border with Syria, around 375 kilometres.

Jordan is one of the countries most affected by the situation in the neighbouring restive state.

Jordanian efforts

This comes within the framework of an announcement by the Jordanian army last June that it shot down a drone loaded with multiple weapons coming from Syria.

A Jordanian military source revealed that this aircraft tried to cross the border illegally, and was shot down inside Jordanian territory.

Jordanian forces, he said, would not hesitate to address all these crimes.

“We will deal with them during the coming period with full force and determination,” Jordanian media outlets quoted the source as saying.

“We will face any attempts to imperil the security and stability of Jordan and its citizens,” he added.

This incident occurred three days after Jordanian border guards announced that they shot down a drone loaded with narcotic substances coming from Syria.

They indicated that the drone shot down carried 500 grams of Crystal (narcotic) substance.

Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, said his country might be obliged to stage military operations inside Syria against drug smugglers, if the Syrian government did not cooperate with Jordan.

Jordan also accuses a pro-Iran militia of responsibility for drug smuggling into it.

It is worth noting that Jordan is not the only country that complains against drug smuggling from Syria, especially when it comes to what is known as Captagon.

Iraq and Saudi Arabia also complain against drug smuggling from Syria.

This issue was the focus of discussions between the Iraqi and Syrian foreign ministers during the latter’s visit to Iraq on June 4.

Both parties agreed to cooperate to combat drug trafficking and smuggling.

Direct deterrence

Syrian researcher, Mustafa al-Naimi, said Jordan is sending a set of messages, the most important of which is that it will maintain its reconnaissance operations by force, after the death of many drug traffickers, the vast majority of whom were killed during clashes with the Jordanian army while pursuing drug traffickers near the Syrian-Jordanian border.

“Perhaps the air operation served as a direct deterrent message that Jordan will proceed with a project to confront this scourge inside Syria,” he told The Reference.