Syrian anti-narcotics authorities said on Thursday they had foiled an attempt to smuggle 641,000 narcotic pills using helium-filled balloons in Daraa, the country's southernmost province, Rudaw reported.
Source: Rudaw via BytesEU
"Through a special operation, the Anti-Narcotics Branch in Daraa governorate thwarted an attempt to smuggle 641,000 narcotic pills using helium-filled air balloons," the anti-narcotics department said in a statement on X quoted by Rudaw, adding that 29 helium cylinders and the equipment used in the operation were also seized.
The department said in an earlier announcement that the shipment was stopped before it could head towards Jordanian territory using guided air balloons, according to Rudaw. A Syria Daily news briefing for October 22 likewise listed the Daraa seizure among the day's security developments.
Source: Syria Daily
The seizure comes amid a month of intensified operations against cross-border smuggling networks, following a late-September meeting where Syrian officials discussed expanding technical assistance with the director of operations of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Rudaw reported.
Under the regime of ousted president Bashar al-Assad, Syria became the world's primary hub for Captagon production and distribution, according to monitors and intelligence agencies cited by Rudaw, which widely pointed to Maher al-Assad, the former president's brother, as the trade's main organiser — an allegation presented here as those monitors' assessment, not as an independently verified finding in this report.
In late June, Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa declared a comprehensive war on drugs, and Interior Minister Anas Khattab pledged to confront the trade by all legitimate means to achieve a drug-free Syria, Rudaw reported.
641,000 pills seized in Daraa, 29 helium cylinders confiscated, shipment said to be bound for Jordan by guided balloon. All figures are from Syria's anti-narcotics department, as reported by Rudaw.