Jordanian military says it intercepted haul of a million Captagon pills from Syria

Army says the smugglers ran away

Jordanian soldiers patrol near their country’s border with Syria. AP
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The Jordanian military has intercepted a haul of one million Captagon pills being smuggled from Syria, it said on Sunday.

In the past two years, Jordan has become a major smuggling route for the illegal stimulant, from Syrian regime areas to inner Arabia and for consumption in the country itself.

A statement by the military said border units in northern Jordan had “foiled at dawn on Sunday an attempt to smuggle a large amounts of drug substances from Syrian to Jordanian territory”.

“The smugglers ran away” after they were “engaged” by the Jordanian troops, and the pills were found when the army searched the area.

On a visit to military units near the border with Syria last month, Jordan’s King Abdullah II said smuggling of contraband from his country’s northern neighbour must be dealt with firmly.

Curbing drug flows from regime-controlled areas of Syria has been a major factor behind a Jordanian policy in the past two years of accommodating the government of President Bashar Al Assad by reopening borders and resuming trade.

An estimated $4 billion worth of Captagon pills is smuggled from areas under regime control to Jordan every year, security officials in the region say.

Updated: March 31, 2022, 4:55 AM