Over 1,800 Drug Users, Dealers & Traders Arrested in ‘Rojava’ Territory in Syria

A Rojava policewoman near confiscated drugs in northeastern Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A Rojava policewoman near confiscated drugs in northeastern Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
20

Over 1,800 Drug Users, Dealers & Traders Arrested in ‘Rojava’ Territory in Syria

A Rojava policewoman near confiscated drugs in northeastern Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A Rojava policewoman near confiscated drugs in northeastern Syria (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Asayish security forces in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava) revealed the results of an anti-drug campaign mounted for over half a year, which ended two days ago.

“Large quantities of drugs were seized. Promoters, drug users, and dealers were arrested, and large quantities of narcotics were destroyed,” confirmed an official Asayish spokesperson.

“The campaign succeeded in confiscating 1,700 kgs of hashish, 2,637 kgs of hashish paste, 3.5 kgs of cannabis seed, nearly 900,000 narcotic pills, and 626 needles,” said Ali al-Hassan in a Saturday press conference in Syria’s northeastern city of Qamishli.

The counter-narcotics campaign started in late September 2020.

“Tremendous efforts spent by our forces to protect communities from the dangers of this scourge and to prevent its spread are aligned with our efforts to fight terrorism,” said al-Hassan, reaffirming that the Asayish was serving as an “impenetrable shield” against both illicit drugs and terrorism.

The role played by the Rojava security wing in countering terrorism and drug trafficking has helped curb their spread to the rest of the world, he explained.

During this last campaign, which lasted more than nine months, the Asayish were able to arrest 1,165 drug users, 480 dealers, and 230 traders.

The security force also announced arresting 1,875 suspects that included an addict, a dealer, and a promoter, all of whom were referred to the judiciary. They also destroyed large quantities of narcotics of various kinds that they had confiscated at a site in Qamishli.

Zuhair Maaish, who heads the anti-crime unit at Asayish, explained that this campaign was based on reliable intelligence information and the cooperation of locals.

Asayish taskforces were deployed in Qamishli, al-Hasakah, and other areas under Rojava’s influence, according to Maaish.

He accused Turkey, which strongly opposes the establishment of the Kurdish-led Rojava in Syria, of having a hand in spreading drugs in the northeast of the Levantine country.



Syrian Authorities Announce Closure of Notorious Desert Camp

 A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
TT
20

Syrian Authorities Announce Closure of Notorious Desert Camp

 A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
A boy carries bricks as he helps to restore a home in al-Qaryatayn, eastern part of Syria's Homs province, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)

A notorious desert refugee camp in Syria has closed after the last remaining families returned to their areas of origin, Syrian authorities said on Saturday.

The Rukban camp in Syria's desert was established in 2014, at the height of Syria's civil war, in a de-confliction zone controlled by the US-led coalition fighting the ISIS group, near the borders with Jordan and Iraq.

Desperate people fleeing ISIS extremists and former government bombardment sought refuge there, hoping to cross into Jordan.

Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government rarely allowed aid to enter the camp and neighboring countries closed their borders to the area, isolating Rukban for years.

After an opposition offensive toppled Assad in December, families started leaving the camp to return home.

The Syrian Emergency Task Force, a US-based organization, said on Friday that the camp was "officially closed and empty, all families and residents have returned to their homes".

Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said on X on Saturday that "with the dismantlement of the Rukban camp and the return of the displaced, a tragic and sorrowful chapter of displacement stories created by the bygone regime's war machine comes to a close".

"Rukban was not just a camp, it was the triangle of death that bore witness to the cruelty of siege and starvation, where the regime left people to face their painful fate in the barren desert," he added.

At its peak, the camp housed more than 100,000 people. Around 8,000 people still lived there before Assad's fall, residing in mud-brick houses, with food and basic supplies smuggled in at high prices.

Syrian minister for emergency situations and disasters Raed al-Saleh said on X said the camp's closure represents "the end of one of the harshest humanitarian tragedies faced by our displaced people".

"We hope this step marks the beginning of a path that ends the suffering of the remaining camps and returns their residents to their homes with dignity and safety," he added.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 1.87 million Syrians have returned to their places of origin since Assad's fall, after they were displaced within the country or abroad.

The IOM says the "lack of economic opportunities and essential services pose the greatest challenge" for those returning home.