Jordanian security forces kill drug dealer in shootout near Amman

Much of the illegal narcotics found in the kingdom enters through the border with Syria

Seized narcotics at a police headquarters in Amman on January 7, 2019. AFP

Jordanian security forces killed a drug dealer in a raid south of Amman, the police said, as the authorities mount a campaign to curb the narcotics trade in the country.

A police spokesman said late on Tuesday that the dealer fired at members of a police unit who had identified his whereabouts and moved to arrest him.

Members of the force fired back and wounded the suspect, who died in hospital. Two men who were with him were arrested, the spokesman said. He did not give further details.

Jordan's anti-narcotics efforts have focused in recent years on the kingdom's northern border with Syria, the main conduit for drugs, particularly the amphetamine known as Captagon, into Jordan and inner Arabia.

But since last year the authorities have increased the number of raids in the kingdom against suspected drug networks, which market Captagon in the kingdom and move it on to Saudi Arabia.

Captagon production has surged in Syria, with areas south of Damascus acting as a main production centre, Arab security officials say. Captagon worth several billion dollars crosses the Syria-Jordan border every year, the officials say.

The Captagon trade boomed after a deal between Russia, the United States and Israel returned most of southern Syria to the Syrian military in 2018. Rebels fighting the regime had captured parts of the area after the revolt in 2011 against five decades of Assad family rule. They were supported by Arab and western countries who stopped backing them after the deal.

Two years ago, with Russian encouragement, Jordan embarked on a rapprochement with Damascus, hoping it would result in a reduced flow of narcotics across the border.

Hashish from Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, parts of which are strongholds of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, is also smuggled to Jordan through Syria.

Since 2018, however, Captagon has become the illegal substance most smuggled in the Levant.