Jordan has intercepted and shot down balloons carrying large amounts of drugs in the east of the country.
The army said on Sunday it had thwarted 10 attempts to smuggle drugs by remotely guided balloons.
The balloons "were launched simultaneously to confuse border guard units and evade detection", read a statement carried by state news agency Petra.
It added that "border guard units successfully intercepted all the attempts in co-ordination with military security agencies and the Anti-Narcotics Department".
"The balloons and their cargo were intercepted and brought down within Jordanian territory, and the seized narcotics were handed over to the relevant authorities for further action."
The army reaffirmed its commitment to preventing all forms of infiltration and smuggling operations, as well as safeguarding the security and stability of the kingdom.
This month, Syria said it seized a cannon, 75 hot-air balloons and more than two million Captagon pills from a gang planning to smuggle drugs into Jordan.
Security personnel also confiscated more than 150kg of cannabis and equipment such as helium gas cylinders, plastic mortar shells and a drone, the Syrian Interior Ministry said. The suspects were planning to use the cannon to launch packets of drugs into neighbouring Jordan, authorities said.
In December, the Jordanian military launched air strikes against drug-smuggling networks in southern Syria. The army had said that it was aiming at a number of "factories and workshops used by arms and drug dealers".
During Syria's civil war – before the fall of Bashar Al Assad in December 2024 – the drug Captagon was the country's largest foreign currency driver, with its trade serving as a funding source for the embattled government.
Last year, Jordan and Syria agreed to intensify joint action against drug smuggling, as ties between the two countries improved despite Amman's displeasure at the cross-border flow of drugs into the kingdom.
Captagon worth billions of dollars has been crossing from Syria through Jordan and into other Arab countries annually since 2018.
