AMMAN — An
Activists group in southern
Syria, which calls itself “Ahrar Houran”, said it
expected pro-regime militias to expand drug production facilities there with
the onset of the winter season, when smugglers exploit bad weather conditions
to heighten their activities.
اضافة اعلان
Former Maj. Gen.
Mahmoud Irdeisat described the fight against the illicit captagon pill
smuggling an “old-new problem”.
He told
Jordan
News that drug manufacturing in southern Syria, which is supervised and
protected by armed militias loyal to Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad militias,
has been a problem for Jordan, which is considered a transit route for
smugglers.
Irdesat explained
that it is a “continuous situation, in which smugglers would take advantage of
any change in circumstances”.
“Jordan’s army
knows that well, and that’s why it is always on alert,” he added.
He said: “We will
continue to suffer from the drug problem, as long as the Syrian regime continues
not to control its side of the border.”
Jordan shares a
362km border with Syria. The long and largely porous frontier makes it hard for
the Jordanian army to control it on its own without reciprocity from the other
side.
Security expert
Basheer Al-Daja told
Jordan News that despite the strict and firm
position to stifle smuggling operations on the border with Syria, some
smugglers succeed to infiltrate into the country “because we are dealing with
armed, and well-trained smugglers.”
Earlier this month,
Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov, whose country is a powerbroker in
Syria, visited Jordan to discuss several issues including the flow of drugs
from areas controlled by Assad’s militias.
Minister of Foreign
Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi said at the time that he discussed with
his Russian counterpart the “needed steps to neutralize this threat, and
provide the minimum level of stability,” a reference to smuggling.
Former Maj. Gen.
Mamoun Abu Nawwar told
Jordan News that the “Russian existence in
Southern Syria is limited to a few patrols, which would not protect Jordan from
smugglers.”
He said that the
protection of the borders has become “purely a Jordanian responsibility”. He
ruled out the possibility that the Russians would act against pro-Iran militias
in Syria, whom Jordan suspects of involvement in the production and smuggling
of narcotic substances.
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