Jordanian army downs drone headed from Syria carrying drugs

AMMAN (Reuters): The Jordanian army said on Monday it had shot down a drone carrying drugs from Syria into its northern frontier region in the third such incident in recent weeks.

The plane, which was carrying two kilos of crystal methamphetamine, was intercepted and downed on Jordan’s side of the border, it said.

It comes a day after army and security chiefs from Jordan and Syria met to discuss ways to curb the growing smuggling problem. Despite pledges by Damascus, Jordan says it has not seen any real attempt to clamp down on the illicit trade.

Jordan has blamed pro-Iranian militias, who it says are protected by units within the Syrian army, for smuggling drugs across its borders toward Gulf markets.

Damascus says it is doing its best to curb smuggling and continues to bust smuggler rings in the south. It denies complicity by Iranian-backed militias linked to its army and security forces.

War-torn Syria has become the region’s main site for a multi-billion-dollar drug trade, with Jordan a main transit route to Gulf states for a Syrian-made amphetamine known as captagon, Western anti-narcotics officials and Washington say.