AND says foiled 4 drug smuggling attempts, arrests multiple suspects

AMMAN — The Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) has foiled four drug smuggling attempts in recent days, the Spokesperson of the Public Security Directorate (PSD) said on Saturday.

In the first case, authorities acted on information that two people were preparing to smuggle large quantities of narcotic pills into a neighbouring country, according to a PSD statement. 

The suspects were planning to conceal the drugs in a shipment of construction stones, the spokesperson said that both men were arrested and 147,000 pills were found hidden in the stones.

In the second operation, a truck loaded with 200,000 pills was intercepted, as an individual inside Jordan had coordinated with traffickers from a neighbouring country to receive the shipment.

 The truck was seized and the individual was taken into custody, the spokesperson said.

Commenting on the third case, the spokesperson said that border guards discovered 40,000 pills hidden in food products, including olives and cheese, noting that two suspects, including one of Arab nationality, were arrested in connection with the smuggling attempt.

In the fourth case, authorities arrested an individual who had hidden 35,000 narcotic pills in a secret compartment in his truck.

In addition, the AND conducted several security campaigns targeting drug traffickers in the south of Amman, resulting in the arrest of 10 individuals in possession of varying amounts of illicit drugs.

In the central Badia region, a highly dangerous and armed drug dealer was arrested after resisting arrest. In the northern Badia, three separate drug-related cases were handled leading to the arrest of one dealer with eight palm-sized hashish sheets and three firearms. Two other dealers were arrested with five palm-sized sheets of hashish following a confrontation and a third dealer was arrested with seven sheets of hashish.

In southern Badia, two drug dealers were caught with 3,000 pills, while in Ramtha, a dealer was arrested with seven palm-sized sheets of hashish.

 In the south of Amman, two other cases were handled, including the arrest of a dealer with 3,000 pills in Maqableen, and another with seven palm-sized sheets of hashish was arrested in Jweideh.

All cases were referred to the State Security Court for further prosecution, the statement added.