Jordanian warplanes launched a series of airstrikes on Saturday evening, May 2, targeting sites used by drug and arms traffickers in the countryside of Suwayda (southern Syria), in what was described as the widest military operation of its kind inside Syrian territory.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Suwayda reported a series of strikes across the province’s countryside on Saturday evening. The strikes targeted the home of a drug trafficker in the town of Malah, the village of Bousan in the eastern countryside, two strikes in Shahba city, a strike near the village of Imtan, and strikes in al-Kafr village, Arman town, and al-Anat village.
The official Syrian al-Ikhbariya channel quoted local sources as saying that airstrikes by warplanes believed to be Jordanian targeted a headquarters containing weapons and drugs controlled by what it described as “rebel gangs” in Shahba, Suwayda.
For its part, the Jordanian Armed Forces announced responsibility, hours after the strikes, at dawn on Sunday, May 3, for carrying out “Operation Jordanian Deterrence,” which targeted several sites belonging to arms and drug traffickers along the kingdom’s northern border area.
The Jordanian Armed Forces said on its official website that, based on intelligence and operational information, it had identified the locations of factories, workshops, and warehouses used by these groups as launch points for operations toward Jordanian territory, and that they were targeted and destroyed.
The Jordanian Armed Forces said the strikes were carried out with the highest levels of precision to prevent narcotics and weapons from reaching Jordanian territory.
Smuggling Escalates, Deterrence Continues
The Jordanian Armed Forces said, according to Al-Mamlaka TV, that these groups rely on new patterns of activity, exploiting weather conditions and current regional circumstances to carry out their operations.
It added that attempts to smuggle weapons and narcotics have risen noticeably, posing a major challenge to border guards and the formations and units supporting them in carrying out their duties.
The Jordanian Armed Forces said it would continue to deal proactively, decisively, and with deterrent force with any threat to the kingdom’s security and sovereignty, mobilizing its capabilities and resources to confront such threats with full strength and firmness.
Not the First Time
The strikes follow a series of previous Jordanian military operations inside Syrian territory. The Jordanian army had previously announced the “neutralization” of a number of traffickers organizing arms and drug smuggling operations along Jordan’s northern border area.
The Jordanian army said at the time, in a statement published on its official website on December 24, 2025, that it had targeted several factories and workshops used by these groups as launch points for operations toward Jordanian territory.
It said the designated sites were destroyed based on precise intelligence information, in coordination with regional partners, without naming them.
Rising Smuggling Operations and Bilateral Security Cooperation
The strikes come amid continued attempts to smuggle drugs from Syria into Jordan, which the Jordanian Armed Forces continue to confront.
On October 16, 2025, the Jordanian army announced in an official statement that it had thwarted an attempt to smuggle a quantity of narcotics fired across the border in a plastic projectile, after receiving intelligence about the smuggling operation.
The Eastern Military Region also thwarted another attempt to smuggle large quantities of narcotics, after a group of smugglers tried to cross the border illegally from Syrian territory into Jordanian territory.
In a step reflecting growing coordination between the two sides, the anti-narcotics departments in Syria and Jordan announced, in a joint statement issued on October 5, 2025, that they had thwarted seven smuggling attempts across the shared border, resulting in the seizure of around 1 million narcotic pills and the arrest of several people involved.
A statement published at the time by the Syrian Ministry of Interior said the cooperation included intelligence sharing and coordination of field efforts, leading to the dismantling of organized criminal networks active in drug smuggling.
The two sides stressed the continuation of these joint operations, considering the fight against drugs “not only a security mission, but a humanitarian and moral responsibility that requires broad regional and international cooperation.”
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