Jordan says strikes hit drug, arms smuggling sites in south Syria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Jordan’s armed forces said Sunday that they carried out aerial strikes along the kingdom’s northern border in Syria, targeting sites used by drug and arms smugglers.

“The Jordanian Armed Forces carried out a Jordanian deterrence operation targeting a number of sites belonging to arms and drug traffickers on the northern border of the Kingdom,” the Jordanian military said in a statement, adding that “the operation aims to prevent drugs and weapons from reaching Jordanian territory.”

Jordan has carried out similar strikes in recent years, targeting drug trafficking networks operating along its border with Syria.

Meanwhile, Syrian state television cited local sources as saying that airstrikes on Saturday evening, “likely carried out by Jordanian warplanes,” targeted a headquarters used by “rebel gangs” in the village of Shahba in the southern Druze-majority province of Suwayda.

The Jordanian armed forces said the strikes targeted factories, workshops, and warehouses “from which arms and drug traffickers launch their operations towards” Jordan, adding that the sites “were targeted and destroyed.”

The Jordanian military added, “The number of attempts to smuggle weapons and narcotics has witnessed a remarkable increase.”

Syria was a major hub for the production and trafficking of Captagon under the now-deposed Bashar al-Assad. His brother, Maher al-Assad, is widely believed to have overseen the operation, using it for both financial gain and political leverage.

Before the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024, Jordanian and Syrian officials held several meetings aimed at curbing the illicit drug trade, though Amman remained dissatisfied with the results.