Syria foiled an attempt Wednesday to smuggle drugs into Jordan across the southern border using balloons. The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) quoted the country’s anti-narcotics ministry saying “an attempt to smuggle a large shipment of dangerous materials to Jordan using balloons was thwarted in the eastern countryside of As-Suwayda province.”
The ministry confirmed the seizure of 70 kilograms of hashish, 45,000 Captagon pills, and various tools and equipment used in the smuggling operation. Since Assad’s fall in December 2024, the new authorities have pledged to crack down on drugs. That’s because in the final years of the ousted president’s rule, the country became a major hub for producing and exporting Captagon to regional countries through Jordan and Lebanon. Fighting drug trafficking is a shared security priority in Damascus and Amman, given the continued activity of smuggling networks along their shared border. Damascus and Amman have repeatedly announced increased coordination to gain control over these networks. According to official Jordanian data, Amman intercepted more than 310 drug-laden drones during the first half of 2025.