Jordan behind attack that killed drug trafficker in Syria: SOHR
Two attacks reportedly targeted a drug factory and the home of drug dealer Marai al-Ramthan and his family.
A suspected drug smuggler and his family have been killed in an airstrike in southern Syria, an attack blamed on Jordan by a war observer.
Amman did not immediately comment on Monday’s attack, which came days after Jordan warned it would use force within Syria to stop drug trafficking to its territory and beyond to the Gulf Arab states.
“[Drug dealer] Marai al-Ramthan, his wife and six children were killed in a Jordanian air force strike in eastern Sweida province, near the border between Syria and Jordan, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said. .
“Al-Ramthan is considered the most prominent drug trafficker in the region, and the number one smuggler of drugs, including captagon, into Jordan” from that area, said the Observatory, which relies on an extensive network of sources in Syria.
Another attack in the southern province of Deraa was reported by the SOHR, which said it hit a building housing a drug factory.
Opposition activist Ahmad al-Masalmeh, covering developments in southern Syria, agreed that one pre-dawn attack killed al-Ramthan and his family and the other hit a facility run by Iranian-backed groups was used to manufacture and store drugs for smuggling into Jordan.
On May 1, several Arab foreign ministers met in Amman, where Damascus agreed to work with Jordan and Iraq to identify sources of drug production and smuggling and “take necessary steps to end smuggling operations said a statement from the Jordanian foreign ministry.
On Sunday, the Arab League welcomed Syria back to the bloc after a suspension that lasted more than a decade, returning President Bashar al-Assad to the Arab fold after years of isolation.
Big industry
Damascus has denied allegations that it sells captagon, a highly addictive amphetamine, to raise funds, estimated by observers at billions of dollars, for al-Assad and his associates and allies.
Although the main destinations are oil-rich Gulf states, Jordan has become a transit country for trade.
Last week, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned that his country will not sit still if the drug trade from Syria continues.
Safadi told CNN: “If we don’t see effective measures to contain that threat, we will do whatever is necessary to counter that threat, including taking military action in Syria to eliminate this extremely dangerous threat.”
In February 2022, the Jordanian military said it had killed 30 smugglers since the beginning of the year and thwarted attempts to smuggle 16 million captagon pills into the kingdom from Syria — more than the total volume seized in 2021.
Jordan has previously conducted raids against drug smugglers in Syria, as far back as 2014.