Jordan and Syria plan to step up fight against drug smuggling

Captagon flows into Jordan hang over foreign ministers' meeting in Damascus

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, right, shakes hands with Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, in Damascus, Syria, ThursdShow more

The foreign ministers of Jordan and Syria agreed to step up joint action against drug smuggling at a meeting in Damascus on Thursday, as ties between the two countries improve despite Amman's displeasure at continued cross-border narcotics flows into the kingdom.

Jordan and Syria are main outlets for each other in trade with the rest of the world, and both have an interest in curbing Lebanese group Hezbollah and other Iran-backed militias, especially after Jordan revealed a plot against its security that involved the training of militants in Lebanon.

The kingdom has been a conduit for gas shipments that Qatar began supplying to Syria last month, according to Qatari state media. Amman is also eager to sell Syria, which has a severe power shortage, some of its surplus electricity.

Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi of Jordan and his counterpart Asaad Al Shibani said in a joint statement that they had agreed to "increase cooperation in the security field", mainly "combatting the smuggling of drugs and weapons", and countering ISIS, which has pockets in eastern Syria.

Mr Safadi, who also met Syrian leader Ahmad Al Shara, noted counter-narcotics "efforts the Syrian government is making", the statement said, adding that Jordan also condemns Israeli attacks on Syria.

Jordan is an important ally of the US and has a peace treaty with Israel, while the new government in Syria is tightly controlled by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS). The armed group, headed by Mr Al Shara, was formerly linked with Al Qaeda and has several Jordanian fighters in its command structure.

Three years before HTS and other rebel groups toppled the dictator Bashar Al Assad in December, Jordan, along with most Arab countries, started a process of accommodation with Damascus. The move was linked to Syria agreeing to curb the smuggling of drugs from its territory and Lebanon, which did not materialise as pro-Iranian militias remained in control of large parts of the border with Jordan.

Joint efforts

In February King Abdullah and Mr Al Shara agreed to work together to secure their common border against arms smuggling and drug trafficking, as the kingdom and other Arab countries made gestures to support the new order in Syria. But in March, the Jordanian army said it had killed four drug smugglers who tried to infiltrate the kingdom from Syria – the first such deaths on the border since the Assad regime was toppled and replaced with the HTS government.

Days later, at a security meeting in Amman, senior officials from Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq agreed to form a joint operations room to exchange information on smuggling. A senior Western official whose country has helped Jordan fortify its border with Syria, said the kingdom has been supportive of Mr Al Shara's efforts to strengthen the central authorities and create a unified new military, steps that should help curb the smuggling.

The official said Amman did not object to recent moves by HTS to extend its control over southern areas bordering Jordan. On Sunday, a Syrian militia in Deraa province called the Eighth Brigade, which had received support from Jordan and other Arab countries during the civil war, disbanded under pressure from HTS.

He said that Jordan and HTS had "agreed to open a new page", and that smuggling activity had reduced, even though the volume remained sizeable. "The Jordanians are not happy about that," the official said, and pointed out that it would be difficult for the new Syrian government to stop smuggling given its lack of funds and high levels of poverty.

Last month, The National reported that Imad Abu Zureiq, a smuggler in southern Syria who is under Western sanctions for dealing in Captagon, a methamphetamine-type narcotic, had met members of the new administration, including Mr Al Shara, on at least two occasions. Mr Abu Zureiq was part of Mr Al Shara's strategy to undermine the Eighth Brigade, Syrian sources in Jordan told The National.

In the last six years of the former regime, Syria's border with Jordan became a main conduit for trade in Captagon, which is sold in pill form and has one of the highest profit margins of any illicit drug.