Using new methods | Dealers smuggle large shipment of illicit drugs to Jordan
Very reliable sources have informed the Syrian Observatory that a group of drug dealers, led by a man called “Saoud Al-Ramthan,” managed to smuggle a large illicit drug consignment to Jordan through Al-Suwaidaa desert, exploiting yesterday’s sandstorm in the desert. This shipment planned to be distributed in Golf states.
According to SOHR sources, this group used a new method to smuggle drugs to Jordan through Al-Suwaidaa desert, as all routes which had been used by drug dealers have been monitored by the Jordanian army in the wake of intensive campaigns in the Syria-Jordan border to counter drug smuggling operations.
It is worth noting that “Al-Ramthan” has strong ties with the Lebanese Hezbollah and regime affiliates working for regime-backed groups from Al-Suwaidaa.
In February, SOHR reported that smuggling of narcotics, weapons and people between the Syria and Jordan, especially from Al-Suwaidaa which is known for its rugged mountainous terrain, started to escalate rapidly, after regime forces and their proxy militias had captured areas on the Syria-Jordan border a few years ago. Operations of smuggling drugs to Jordan to deliver them to the Arabian Peninsula recently topped the events in light of the almost-daily security campaigns by Jordanian Border Guards who foiled many of these operations and confiscated massive shipments of drugs from Syria.
Groups involved in drug business
According to very reliable SOHR sources, several armed groups affiliated with the Lebanese Hezbollah and officers of the Syrian regime export drugs and weapons and helped people to smuggle themselves to Jordan. These groups are prevalent in “Al-Safa and Al-Jah”, an area known for its mountainous nature and located nearly 25 kilometres to the east of Al-Suwaidaa, near Al-Sha’ab village which is nearly ten kilometres away from the border with Jordan.
One of these armed groups is affiliated to the Syrian regime and led by a man called “Sa’oud Al-Ramsan” who has strong ties with the Lebanese Hezbollah and regime-backed local militiamen from Al-Suwaidaa. This group deliver drugs and weapons from Syria to Lebanon, with the help of a smaller group affiliated to the Lebanese Hezbollah, which escort the shipment and secure the way to Jordan.
“Al-Abasat group” is also affiliated with commanders of the Lebanese Hezbollah and works in smuggling narcotics from Syria to Jordan.
Another armed group is prevalent in Kherbet Matoutah mountainous area in Al-Suwaidaa desert where many caves and bunkers are located. This group is led by a man called “Ghannam Al-Khudair Abu Hamza” from Dumayr city in Rif Dimashq and known for his bilateral ties with individuals inside Jordan, and he is a relative of a Syrian businessman. According to SOHR sources, groups affiliated to the Lebanese Hezbollah deliver drugs and weapons to Ghannam’s group with the aim to smuggle them into Jordan. The smuggling operations are carried out after coordination between the smugglers or the groups leader and influential figures in Jordan. It is worth noting that smugglers deliberately wait for times of harsh weather and transport drugs and weapons shipments across the border under the cover of rain, snowfall, fogs, windstorms or sandstorms.
Expired illicit pills tipped off, for distracting Border Guards from other narcotics shipments
Reliable sources have told SOHR that the confiscation of large amounts of expired illicit pills by Jordanian Border Guards take place after coordination with figures inside Jordan on many occasions, with the aim of distract the Border Guards from other narcotics shipments smuggled later into Jordan.
From Lebanon’s Beqaa to Al-Suwaidaa, the starting point of drugs shipment to Jordan
Observatory sources had reported earlier that trucks carrying drugs set off from Baalbek area in Lebanon, escorted by guards of military groups of regime security services affiliated with the Lebanese Hezbollah, and head to the barren mountains of Qalamoun then to Al-Suwaidaa province in south Syria region where the drugs were stored in warehouses. These drugs later were smuggled to Jordan or sold in Al-Suwaidaa province which experiences a state of security instability.
It is worth noting that a kilo of hashish is sold for 300,000 to 400,000 SYL, equivalent to 110 USD. In Jordan, however, hashish is sold to dealers for 250 USD per kilo.
We, at the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), have been all along warning against the disastrous situation in Syria with the Syrian regime clinging only to power, disregarding the sufferings of the Syrian people. The Syrian Observatory would like to point out to the threats posed by the prevalence of drugs across the entire Syrian geography, particularly regime-held areas. We also renew our appeal to the international community not to abandon their responsibility and obligations to finding a lasting solution to the tragedy of millions of Syrians who have already been grappling with chronic crises during a protracted war raging for over a decade.