Authorities seize one tonne of marijuana in farm raid

AMMAN — Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) and Special Forces agents conducted a raid on two marijuana farms in Balqa at dawn on Thursday, seizing one tonne of the illegal drug, official sources said.

AND agents were acting on a tip they received about several farms growing marijuana in Balqa Governorate, some 35km northwest of Amman, a senior AND official said.

“No one was at the farms during the raids, and it was a clean operation,” the official told The Jordan Times.

He added that agents are searching for two suspects believed to be involved in the marijuana farming operation.

“We know who they are and it is a matter of time before we arrest them,” he stressed.

The State Security Court prosecution has been notified about the incident to “take legal action against the farm owners”, the official added.

Thirteen people were arrested on Thursday in a police raid on nine marijuana farms and houses in Balqa Governorate.

In a similar raid earlier this month, agents stormed nine farms and houses, also in Balqa, arresting 13 suspects and seizing 200 kilogrammes of marijuana seedlings.

At the time, an AND official told The Jordan Times that the raids were planned.

“Our campaigns are ongoing against farms and houses in this area, because we know that people regularly plant marijuana here,” the official said, adding that one way to closely monitor these houses is via air surveillance.

“We take aerial photos of farms and houses then analyse them to determine what kind of seedlings are being planted in each area,” he explained.

In remarks to the media on Saturday, AND Director Col. Sami Askar said 8,945 suspects were involved in around 6,504 drug cases last year, adding that the authorities seized over 22 million Captagon pills, 444 kilogrammes of hashish and 5,007 kilos of marijuana in 2013.

According to AND statistics, 154 kilogrammes of marijuana were seized in 2011, 106 kilogrammes in 2010 and 30 kilogrammes in 2009.