Drug smuggling issue: Regional meeting to tackle drug smuggling across Syrian borders

Report by Yazbek Wehbe, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi
With a border stretching 370 kilometers with Syria and Jordan, alongside Lebanon, and the nearly 600-kilometer stretch with Iraq faces increasing challenges from the smuggling of Captagon and drugs from Syria into the region, destined both overland and by sea to the Gulf states and Europe.

Despite Jordanian security measures and numerous clashes resulting in casualties among smugglers, the smuggling persists, sometimes with the collusion of local Jordanian facilitators exploiting adverse weather conditions to conduct their operations.

Repeated promises from Syria and Gulf states to assist in curbing this phenomenon have yielded little result. Even a recent meeting in Riyadh between Syria's intelligence chief, Hossam Louka, and his Saudi counterpart failed to yield substantive change.

Media reports and political stances often accuse the Syrian regime and its Iranian-backed affiliated groups of orchestrating these operations, which generate annual revenues estimated at five to six billion dollars, according to a 2022 report by the German magazine Der Spiegel. This influx of cash helps bolster the Syrian regime amid imposed sanctions.

Recognizing the detrimental impact of continued smuggling on Jordan's relations with Gulf states and its inability to address the issue unilaterally, a meeting convened in Amman on Saturday with interior ministers from Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan to strategize on collaborative efforts to combat the issue.

The collaboration, crucial to success, has seen Lebanon fully engaged in the endeavor, as articulated by Lebanon's Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi to LBCI.

The Syrian regime may face increasing scrutiny over its complicity in drug trafficking.

Will it accede to the demands of its neighbors or risk relinquishing a lucrative economic lifeline in its faltering economy?