The Director of Military Information for the Jordanian Armed Forces accused what he described as dangerous Iranian organizations of targeting Jordanian national security through the Syrian-Jordanian borders.

During a television interview, the Jordanian military official said that an escalation in drug smuggling operations had been detected across the Syrian border, indicating that the aim was to fund what he called the militias operating on the Jordanian border.

The Jordanian official warned of the consequences of leaving Jordan alone in this confrontation, which could pose a threat to neighboring countries, pointing out that 20 million Captagon pills were seized during 2022.

The same source indicated that drug smuggling has become systematic, and the army is waging a real war on the border with Syria.

On Sunday, the Jordanian army announced in a statement that it had killed 4 smugglers and wounded others while they were trying to cross the border from Syria to the kingdom, with large quantities of drugs in their possession.

Jordan is fighting the escalation of drug smuggling across its borders (Al-Jazeera)

control and coordination

The statement quoted an official military source in the General Command of the Armed Forces as saying that, "The frontier observations of the Border Guard forces, in coordination with the security services and the Anti-Narcotics Department, spotted a group of people coming from Syrian territory to Jordanian territory, and they tried to cross the border illegally with the support of armed groups, The quick reaction mechanisms dealt with these groups by applying the rules of engagement.

He explained, "The operation that took place at dawn on Sunday, resulted in the killing of 4 smugglers, wounding a number of them, and the escape of others into the depths of Syria."

He added, "After intensifying searches and searches in the area, 637,000 Captagon pills, 181 hashish palms, 39,600 tramadol pills and a Kalashnikov weapon were found, and the seizures were transferred to the competent authorities."

The source stressed that "the armed forces have thwarted, since the beginning of this year, many infiltration and smuggling operations in all its forms."

Jordanian truck returning from the Syrian side (Al-Jazeera)

smuggling attempts

On January 27, the Jordanian army announced that it had thwarted a number of attempts to smuggle large quantities of narcotic drugs and killed 27 smugglers when they tried to cross the border from Syria to the kingdom with the support of armed groups.

On the 17th of the same month, the army announced the killing of an officer and the wounding of 3 border guards soldiers in a clash with drug smugglers on the border with Syria.

A few days later, one of the injured died of his injuries.

Jordan - which has hosted about 1.6 million Syrian refugees since the outbreak of the crisis in Syria in March 2011 - has tightened over the past few years procedures at its border with Syria, which extends more than 300 km, and arrested and imprisoned dozens of fighters, for trying to infiltrate into Syrian territory to fight there.

Amman confirms that 85% of the seized drugs are intended for smuggling out of Jordan.