Syrian Defence Minister discusses drug smuggling with Jordanian officials

Ali Mahmoud was in Amman to chair first meeting of anti-narcotics committee with Jordan

A Jordanian patrol near the border with Syria, on February 17, 2022. AP

Syrian Defence Minister Ali Mahmoud discussed with Jordanian officials on Sunday ways to curb narcotics smuggling from Syria, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said.

The meeting in Amman was the first for a joint security committee that the two sides agreed to set up at the start of this month to deal with the issue, particularly the amphetamine known as Captagon.

The officials discussed “the groups that organise, run and execute” the smuggling, and how to stop them, the Foreign Ministry said.

Jordan has accused the Syrian military and pro-Iran militias in southern Syria of overseeing the smuggling.

On May 8, a reported Jordanian air strike killed a Syrian drug dealer in the area, three days before Damascus was readmitted to the Arab League.

The meeting in Amman was attended by Hussam Louqa, head of the Syrian Intelligence. The Jordanian side was led by Maj Gen Youssef Al Huneiti, the chief of staff.

Ahmad Husni, the head of Jordanian intelligence, was also in the meeting.

The committee was announced on July 3, during a visit by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi to Damascus, where he raised the drugs issue with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

Mr Safadi said in Damascus that there must be progress on issues agreed to in the past several months between Syria and Arab countries, which include the narcotics, to “take us where we want to go".

Weapons and narcotics are often smuggled into Jordan from southern areas that fell to the Syrian military in 2018, after a deal between Russia, Damascus's most powerful supporter, the US and Israel to hand over the areas to Mr Al Assad's forces.

Curbing the drug flow from Syria has been a primary objective of a rapprochement between Jordan and Mr Al Assad over the past two years.

Jordan supported the decision to restore Syria's membership of the Arab League, which was suspended in 2011 in response to a crackdown by security forces against pro-democracy demonstrations.