Jordanian troops seize weapons in clash with smugglers
Jordan’s army has foiled an attempt to smuggle more than 100 weapons and drugs in the south of the country, it said in a rare announcement of an anti-narcotics operation in the region.
Forces of the Southern Command thwarted “an infiltration attempt by a group of people and the smuggling of a large quantity of weapons and ammunition and drugs”, a military official told state media.
The encounter happened on Wednesday on the kingdom’s south-west frontier, a desert region that borders Saudi Arabia and Israel and faces Egypt across the Red Sea.
“Rapid response patrols were dispatched and rules of engagement were applied, which led to their retreat,” the official said.
Troops seized 127 hand guns, 248 ammunition magazines and 176 pills of the illegal stimulant Captagon.
Jordan’s anti-smuggling efforts have in recent years focused on the northern border with Syria.
The region has become a route for smugglers attempting to send Captagon into the kingdom and to the Arabian Peninsula.
Production of the illegal drug has surged in Syria during its civil war.
Arab security officials say Captagon worth billions of dollars is smuggled over Syria’s border with Jordan every year.
For years, Jordan fought to intercept hashish smuggled from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, parts of which are strongholds of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
But during the past five years, Captagon has become the main illegal substance smuggled in the Levant, according to security officials.
Jordanian police said on Wednesday that anti-narcotics unit officers had arrested 15 armed domestic drug traffickers in Amman and several provinces.
Cocaine, crystal meth, cannabis, and other drugs were seized, they said. Those arrested would be dealt with by the State Security Court.
This month Jordanian authorities said they destroyed 12.8 million Captagon pills and other drugs seized in 43 drug cases.
State media published a photo of security personnel placing bags of the drugs in a furnace, in the latest public display of Jordan’s efforts to combat the flow of narcotics.