The "Men of Dignity" movement destroys confiscated quantities of the narcotic Captagon pills in the Syrian province of Suwayda (Al Jazeera)

Northern Syria -

The process of destroying about 200,000 “Captagon” pills - in a public forum and in the presence of religious, social and political events in the Suwayda Governorate in southern Syria - carried a message that the local community rejects the phenomenon of drug smuggling locally and abroad, amid calls to support civil efforts, in the absence of any A role for the Syrian regime, which is the main accused of involvement in smuggling operations.

The destruction operation was carried out by the "Men of Dignity" movement, which now has an important presence in the military and local scene in Suwayda, which has witnessed unprecedented popular protests against the Assad regime for about 7 months, after it discovered a shipment of narcotic pills in a truck that was scheduled to be transported to Jordan.

Recently, the drug smuggling movement towards Jordan through southern Syria has grown, and the governorates of Suwayda and Daraa have turned into illegal crossing gates for many drug smugglers, as Amman announced during the past few days that it had thwarted several drug smuggling operations coming from Syria, and killed a number of smugglers.

Drug smuggling has become a major source of funding for the Syrian regime and its partners, according to international reports (Al Jazeera)

Surveillance patrols

On the Syrian side, villages in Suwayda Governorate, near the border with Jordan, witnessed civil initiatives to combat drug smuggling, including monitoring suspicious routes used in smuggling operations.

Local sources in Suwayda said that some young men in the town of Malah, which has been subjected to more than one Jordanian air strike over the past weeks, have begun forming patrols to monitor the roads.

In the town of Khirbet Awad, residents warned - in a statement - that anyone who works in drug smuggling, or disturbs the security of the border with Jordan, will be “subject to harsh punishment, regardless of his description,” stressing that their patrols will be deployed at the entrances and exits of the village.

The people of Dhibin also agreed to "form a group to combat the phenomenon of smuggling through the village lands and conduct patrols around the clock," warning that those involved and those who cooperate with them "will be legitimate targets."

Abu Taymour, spokesman for the “Men of Dignity” movement - which leads civil anti-drug initiatives - says that the mechanism of action is based on pursuing promoters, distributors, and major dealers of various narcotic substances, by forming raid patrols and checkpoints as much as possible, to limit the manufacture of these substances or their transportation through Suwayda. .

Abu Taymour added - in an interview with Al Jazeera Net - that these local efforts in Suwayda need moral support and regional Arab cover, as well as logistical support at several levels, to confront smuggling networks.

Abu Taymour denied that any Arab or regional party had contacted the “Men of Dignity” in order to coordinate efforts to combat drug smuggling from southern Syria towards Jordanian territory.

But the ability of the local factions to fight smuggling is limited, according to the director of the As-Suwayda 24 News Network, journalist Rayan Marouf, stressing that they cannot resolve the drug issue but rather fight it to a certain extent, since it is managed by regimes and countries.

Marouf said - in an interview with Al Jazeera Net - that local groups in Suwayda asked Jordan to hand over the names of wanted drug dealers and dealers, to avoid bombing operations and civilian casualties.

Smuggling continues

Hours after establishing a joint "communication cell" between Amman, Damascus, Baghdad and Beirut, following a meeting at the level of interior ministers on Saturday in the Jordanian capital, the Jordanian army announced the killing of 5 smugglers and the injury of 4 others, while thwarting an attempt to smuggle drugs from Syria.

Evidence and facts on the ground indicate that smuggling operations are continuing, and are not prevented by security coordination operations, at a time when reports indicate that the Syrian regime is now obtaining huge sums of money from the drug trade, as the American “New Lines” Institute confirmed that the Syrian regime is using this trade as a means. To survive politically and economically following the sanctions imposed on it.

Researcher and academic Jamal Al-Shoufi confirms that the statement of the "Men of Dignity" movement, which called for cooperation with it in combating drugs in southern Syria, came from its awareness that the Syrian security services are not working to stop drug smuggling, but rather are facilitating their work, as proven by the events of 2022.

Al-Shoufi indicated - in an interview with Al Jazeera Net - that it is in the interest of the Jordanian and Syrian peoples in the region to stop drug dealers and smugglers, whether in Syria or Jordan.

He warned that drug dealers are taking advantage of the general chaos, unemployment, and loss of job opportunities among the younger generation, and as a result, they are using them to destroy civil community cohesion in Suwayda on the one hand, and they are also using some of them as smugglers in drug trafficking gangs.

Source: Al Jazeera