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.
