In an audacious operation, security personnel in Jordan have apprehended an individual labelled as a “dangerous criminal” and said to be connected with global narcotics syndicates. The arrest took place in Irbid, a city in the north of Jordan, according to an announcement made by a police spokesperson on Wednesday.
The operation forms part of a heightened national campaign against drug dealers within the kingdom, with authorities chiefly focusing on curbing the trafficking of the amphetamine-type stimulant, Captagon, believed to be illicitly transported from Syria across the Jordanian border.
The spokesperson detailed that the apprehended male, deemed dangerous and confirmed to have ties with global drug cartels, was seized in a flat in Irbid after an extended period of surveillance and reconnaissance.
Authorities discovered an extensive cache of drugs at the residence: 287 packets of hashish and a substantial haul of 17,000 tablets were uncovered. The individual’s identity and nationality remain undisclosed. Irbid is situated a mere 15 kilometres from the Syrian border, underlining the strategic challenge faced by law enforcement.
Further to this operation, the police spokesperson reported the capture of nine additional drug traffickers across Amman, the town of Ruseifeh located on the eastern fringe of the Jordanian capital, and within the central Balkaa governorate, over the past few days.
In an effort to clamp down on narcotics smuggling from Syria, Jordanian authorities and Syrian Defence Minister, Ali Mahmoud, convened in Amman last month. The Jordanian Foreign Ministry confirmed these discussions which represented the inaugural meeting for a joint security committee, established earlier this month to address the pressing issue.
The Jordanian government has previously accused the Syrian military and southern Syrian militias, thought to be pro-Iran, of supervising the smuggling operations.
Despite these concerns, Jordan remains an integral part of the Arab rapprochement with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. The kingdom endorsed Damascus’s reintegration into the Arab League in May.
Image Credit: Hassan Bushnaq/Wikimedia Commons
