Jordanian troops arrest drug smuggler after gun fight on Syria border

Military official says other smugglers fled to Syria but 20,000 Captagon pills were seized

Drugs from Syria seized by the Jordanian military in July 2022. Photo: Jordan Armed Forces

Jordanian troops battled smugglers from Syria and arrested one of them, official media reported on Monday.

It was the latest armed encounter in an escalating drug war on the kingdom's northern border with regime-held areas of Syria.

Jordan's official news agency quoted a military official as saying that other smugglers were wounded in the battle.

“Rapid response patrols were dispatched and the rules of engagement were applied, which resulted in casualties [among the smugglers] and the arrest of one of them,” the official said.

“The rest fled deep into the Syrian interior.”

After the battle, troops found 20,000 pills of the stimulant known as Captagon in the area, as well as 126 packs of hashish, the official added.

Jordan's border with Syria has became a main route for the Middle East trade in Captagon and other drugs, after most of the border territory on the Syrian side was recaptured in 2018 by forces loyal to President Bashar Al Assad, under a deal between Russia, Israel and the US.

Last year, Jordan began to blame the Syrian military and pro-Iranian militias operating along the border for the increase in drug smuggling. It said it would respond more assertively to infiltration attempts and drug dealing inside Jordan.

Jordanian authorities have stepped up border operations in the past few months to disrupt the flow of drugs. Numerous arrests have been made to dismantle drug networks in Jordan.