Suspected drug smugglers arrested near border

AMMAN — The Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) on Tuesday announced the arrest of two Jordanians who were attempting to smuggle over 200,000 illegal pills to a neighbouring country.

The two men were arrested in separate vehicles near Mudawara Border Crossing, a senior AND official said.

“No one was injured during the arrest,” the official told The Jordan Times.

Upon searching the vehicles, AND agents found 220,000 Captagon pills, an automatic weapon and live ammunition, according to a statement by the Public Security Department (PSD).

“AND agents were acting on a tip-off that the two men were planning to smuggle a stash of illegal pills to a neighbouring country and placed them under surveillance,” according to the PSD statement.

The senior official said investigations were ongoing and “more people might be arrested in connection with the failed smuggling operation”.

The two suspects were referred to the State Security Court for further questioning and indictment, the PSD statement added.

In August, AND Director Brig. Gen. Anwar Tarawneh said that 95 per cent of the illicit drugs smuggled into the Kingdom are destined for neighbouring countries.

Tarawneh said that since the beginning of the year, his department dealt with 8,656 illicit drug cases, including 7,504 for possession and dealing and 1,152 for trafficking.

In 2015, AND handled 11,062 illicit drug cases, including 10,080 for possession and dealing and 982 for trafficking.

Meanwhile, over 13,143 people have been arrested on drug charges this year, including 11,710 Jordanians.

In 2015, a total of 15,691 people were arrested, including 13,899 Jordanians, for related charges, Tarawneh said.

The total number of Captagon pills seized by the end of August according to AND was 50,964,381.