‘1,167 suspects arrested in drug-related cases so far this year’

AMMAN — Since the beginning of 2017, the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) has dealt with 759 cases, 134 of which were related to drug dealing, while 625 involved possession and abuse.

The AND operations resulted in the arrest of 1,167 suspects, 267 of whom are suspected of drug dealing, according to a statement from the Public Security Department (PSD) on Saturday. 

In those cases, the department confiscated 2,781,000 narcotic pills, 127kg of hashish, 17kg of synthetic cannabis (locally known as joker), 11,000 small bags filled with joker and 2kg of marijuana.

In one recent case, AND personnel arrested seven suspects who attempted to smuggle 350,000 narcotic pills outside Jordan, according to the PSD.

The suspects, five of whom hold Arab nationalities, had reportedly hidden the pills in a storage facility in Irbid, 80km north of Amman.

AND agents raided the warehouse, arrested the suspects and referred them to the State Security Court prosecutor.

In a separate case, AND personnel in Amman arrested two persons suspected of preparing 150,000 narcotic pills to be smuggled outside the Kingdom. 

After collecting information on the time of handing the narcotics, the AND agents arrested the suspects as they were meeting to place the pills inside a truck.