PSD, AND make over 45,000 drug-related arrests in 2018

AMMAN — The Public Security Department’s (PSD) Anti-Narcotics Department (AND), handled 18,400 drug-related cases in 2018, in which security personnel arrested 25,875 suspects, including 1,937 non-Jordanians. 

In a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, on the department’s crime figures for last year, the PSD said that it dealt with 3,058 drug trafficking cases, where 5,721 suspects were arrested. The PSD also dealt with 15,342 cases related to drug possession and abuse, which resulted in the arrests of 20,154 suspects.

AND personnel in 2018 seized 47 million Captagon pills, 2,093 kilogrammes of hashish, 155 kilogrammes of synthetic cannabis (also known as “joker”), 74,738 kilogrammes of marijuana, 10,557 kilogrammes of hero in, 1,693 kilogrammes of cocaine and 820,790 various pills.

AND agents also carried out 1,614 raids on drug trafficking hideouts, arrested 2,650 suspects and seized 540 weapons.

A total of 2,105 drug abusers, including 99 people who were addicted to joker, also benefited from AND’s rehab centre.

On counterfeiting currency, AND handled 95 cases that resulted in the arrest of 201 suspects, including 19 non-Jordanians, who mainly counterfeited the Jordanian dinar, US dollar and the euro.

Meanwhile, the PSD’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) dealt with 4,172 cases, 75 per cent of which were solved, while CID personnel dealt with 79 murder cases and made arrests in all of the cases.

CID agents also solved 2,509 out of the total 2,577 cases of fraud received by the department.

The CID arrested suspects in 2,808 out of 4,168 felony theft cases, and apprehended 2,330 suspects for misdemeanour theft out of the total 8,038 cases received.

The CID also retrieved 601 stolen vehicles.

The Anti-Human Trafficking Department received 307 complaints, only 20 of which were confirmed as human trafficking cases, which were referred to specialised authorities.

The PSD’s anti-cybercrime unit received 7,672 complaints in 2018, which were investigated and also referred to specialised authorities.

In 2018, 123,846 people were issued driving licenses for the first time, raising the total number of licenced motorists in the Kingdom to 2,641,860. 

Deaths resulting from traffic accidents in 2018 dropped to 562, compared with 685 deaths in 2017, marking a 17.9 per cent decrease. Injuries from traffic accidents also declined to 12,363 in 2018, marking a 23.9 per cent drop.

The number of traffic accidents in 2018 declined to 150,171 — down from 150,266 in 2017. 

The residency and borders administration in 2018 also issued 198,505 documents for annual residency and 81,097 for temporary residency.