Jordan shoots down third Syria drone in two weeks amid captagon smuggling wave

Jordan's military said Wednesday that it had shot down a drone travelling from Syrian territory, the third such downing in just over a fortnight.

Border guards working with military security and anti-drug forces detected the drone as it flew over the Syria-Jordan border before engaging, the army said in a statement.

"The drone was dealt with and shot down inside Jordanian territory, and the seized items were transferred to the competent authorities," the statement read.

The army did not specify what the drone was carrying, but drugs including the amphetamine-like stimulant captagon are moving across Syria’s international borders in vast quantities.

The army said on 13 June that it had shot down a drone carrying drugs from Syria. Three days later, it said it took down a drone carrying weapons.

Syria has become a regional hub for the production of captagon, whose trafficking and consumption governments of neighbouring countries say they are keen to stamp out.

Earlier this week, hundreds of thousands of captagon pills were found at a school building site in Iraq’s Anbar province, close to the border with Syria. Iraqi officials say the captagon use is becoming increasingly popular.

Amman has urged the Syrian regime to curb drug smuggling across the Syria-Jordan border.

The Syrian regime claims it is doing its best to curb smuggling and continues to bust smuggler rings in the south. It denies complicity by Iranian-backed militias linked to its army and security forces.