Jordon Works Extra Hard To Keep Captagon Out Of Its Territory
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Hashim Sheikh
- . October 24, 2022
- . Update: November 11, 2022 1:24 am
Drug smuggling continues to be a headache to be managed between the borders of Syria and Jordon. Syria has become a thoroughfare due to its fragile political situation and thus easy access for drug trafficking.
In speaking to Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy to Syria, Foreign Minister Ayman Al Safadi that Jordan “is continuing to take all the measures to counter this danger and will do all that is necessary to guarantee the security of its borders”.
Undeniably, both parties agreed that this is an issue that has become a major security concern for the kingdom.
Drugs move from as far as Afghanistan and other places nearby via Syria into Jordon and then are being sold into Saudi Arabia which is fast becoming a popular market for Captagon for example.
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Diplomats in Amman and security officials in the region say that billions of dollars’ worth of narcotics, particularly the drug known as Captagon, pass every year from Syria into Jordan. A large proportion of drugs are then smuggled again to Saudi Arabia.
Unfortunately, while Jordon decided to normalize ties with Syria, this diplomatic movement has not altered the frequency at which the drug has been moving across the borders.
Jordon has not shared good trade or other diplomatic relations with Syria. The main reason for that has been that the regime in Damascus was largely ostracised for its deadly suppression of the 2011 revolt against five decades of Assad family rule. But after prodding from Russia, Jordan became a proponent of accommodation with Mr. Assad.
Mr. Al Safadi said Jordan advocates a “collective” Arab role in bringing an end to the Syrian civil war and to “confront all what this crisis causes from humanitarian, political, security and economic challenges”.
