Jordan Strikes Iran-linked Drug Dealers in Syria

This picture taken on February 17, 2022, shows Jordanian soldiers patrolling along the border with Syria to prevent drug trafficking. (AFP)

Jordan on Thursday launched air strikes inside Syria against suspected warehouses and hideouts of Iranian-backed drug smugglers, Jordanian and regional intelligence sources said.
The army has stepped up a campaign against drug dealers after protracted clashes last month with dozens of infiltrators from Syria linked to pro-Iranian militias, carrying large hauls who crossed its border with weapons and explosives.
The sources told Reuters jets bombed the suspected home of a leading drug dealer in the town of Shaab in Sweida province while the other strike hit warehouses near the village of Al-Ghariya.
Both locations are in the province of Sweida near the Jordanian border
Ryan Marouf, editor of Suwayda 24, a Syrian news website, who has tracked the drug war, said a plume of smoke was seen from the border area soon after the strikes.
"The first strike targeted a leading drug dealer linked to Iranian militias and the other raid bombed a farm where drugs are stored," Marouf said.
Jordanian officials, like their Western allies, say that Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group and other pro-Iranian militias who control much of southern Syria were behind a surge in drug and weapons smuggling.
Iran and Hezbollah say the allegations are part of Western plots against the country. Syria denies complicity with Iranian-backed militias linked to its army and security forces.
Jordan has been promised more US military aid to improve security on the border, where Washington has given around $1 billion to establish border posts since the Syrian conflict began in 2011, Jordanian officials say.
UN experts and US and European officials say the illicit drug trade finances a proliferation of pro-Iranian militias and pro-government paramilitary forces created by more than a decade of conflict in Syria.