Jordan army killed 27 drug smugglers from Syria, after they tried to smuggle in under the cover of heavy snow with large quantities of amphetamines, across the border.
Others, also carrying drugs, managed to flee back into Syria. The incident marked the latest in an increasing number of smuggling attempts over the past year that had led the Jordanian army to toughen its crackdown on smugglers.
The army has also found large quantities of Captagon hidden in Syrian trucks passing through Jordan’s main border crossing to the Gulf region.
Captagon is extremely popular in the Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia, the biggest consumer market for illegal recreational use in the region. It is manufactured in Lebanon and Syria, which has become the region’s main production site according to UN drug experts.
In April, more than five million off-white pills were found and seized by customs in the Saudi port of Jeddah. The pills, which were hidden in pomegranate fruits, originated from Syria and were exported from Lebanon.