Syria says drugs sent by balloon seized near Jordan

Syria said Wednesday it had foiled an attempted drug-smuggling operation in Sweida province that used balloons to move narcotics toward neighbouring Jordan.

State news agency SANA quoted the drug enforcement department as saying it seized 70 kilogrammes of hashish and 45,000 captagon tablets. Images published by SANA appeared to show small balloons laid out in rows.

Captagon, a synthetic stimulant, became Syria's largest export after the civil war began in 2011 and was a key source of illicit funding for now ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

Syria's new authorities, who took power in December 2024, have been working to combat the captagon trade. Damascus and Amman have committed to fighting drug smuggling on their border.

Parts of Druze-majority Sweida province, which borders Jordan, are controlled by Druze armed groups and are outside Damascus's control. In May, Syrian state TV reported Jordanian strikes on a drugs and weapons storage site in Sweida province. Jordan had previously carried out strikes on southern Syria targeting drug-trafficking networks.