A report by the ETANA Center for Research and Documentation revealed major shifts in drug smuggling networks across Syria’s borders after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, noting a 40% decline in smuggling attempts alongside a notable rise in the success rate of crossings.
According to the report, Syria has shifted from being the source of about 80% of the world’s Captagon supply to a transit corridor used by regional smuggling networks.
Industrial Captagon Production Declines
The report said the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024 led to a rapid contraction in Syria’s capacity to manufacture Captagon on an industrial scale, as infrastructure linked to the regime was dismantled and production facilities were destroyed.
It noted that most Captagon now enters Syria as a finished product, particularly through Lebanon, while additional quantities of drugs, most notably methamphetamine, are imported from Iraq.
According to the report, Syria has shifted from a major production hub to a “logistical intermediary” that facilitates the movement of drugs to markets in Jordan and Gulf countries.
Smuggling Methods Change
The center said smuggling networks had previously relied on human intermediaries and drones to move drugs and weapons across the Jordanian border.
The most prominent shift after the regime’s fall, however, was the move toward using airborne balloon systems to transport shipments, as they are cheaper and able to carry larger quantities than drones.
The report added that these new methods have recently become the most widely used in smuggling operations and have helped raise the success rate of crossings.
Fewer Attempts, Higher Success
The report recorded a sharp decline in the number of smuggling attempts since the regime’s fall, with cross-border incidents dropping to less than one-third of previously recorded levels.
Monthly crossings fell from 88 in February 2024 to 29 in February 2025.
Despite this, smuggling success rates rose from about 25% during Assad’s rule to 57% after his fall, as methods changed and networks adapted to the new security reality.
The report noted that the total number of successful crossings toward Jordan increased, despite the overall decline in the number of attempts.
Syrian Badia Becomes a New Route
According to the report, the Syrian Badia (central and eastern Syria) has recently emerged as a main smuggling route toward Jordan, benefiting from a security vacuum and low population density.
During the final 15 months of Assad’s rule, more than 80% of smuggling attempts originated from Suwayda governorate (southern Syria), compared with only 4% from the Badia.
After the regime’s fall, however, the ratios almost reversed, with about 80% of smuggling operations now starting from the Badia, compared with only 12% from Suwayda.
Weak Security Measures
It noted that the absence of a coherent security and institutional framework has contributed to the spread of corruption, as smugglers have been able to secure freedom of movement by offering financial incentives.
It added that the Syrian-Jordanian border still suffers from significant security weakness, amid the absence of specialized border guard forces and limited local security deployment.
Jordanian Strikes Target Drug Dealers’ Sites
Jordanian warplanes launched a series of airstrikes on May 2 targeting sites used by drug and weapons dealers in the countryside of Suwayda governorate, in the largest military operation of its kind inside Syrian territory.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Suwayda reported a series of strikes across the province’s countryside on Saturday evening. The strikes targeted the home of a drug trafficker in the town of Malah, the village of Bousan in the eastern countryside, two strikes in Shahba city, a strike near the village of Imtan, and strikes in al-Kafr village, Arman town, and al-Anat village.
The official Syrian al-Ikhbariya channel quoted local sources as saying that airstrikes by warplanes believed to be Jordanian targeted a headquarters containing weapons and drugs controlled by what it described as “rebel gangs” in Shahba, Suwayda.
For its part, the Jordanian Armed Forces announced responsibility, hours after the strikes, at dawn on Sunday, May 3, for carrying out “Operation Jordanian Deterrence,” which targeted several sites belonging to arms and drug traffickers along the kingdom’s northern border area.
The Jordanian Armed Forces said on its official website that, based on intelligence and operational information, it had identified the locations of factories, workshops, and warehouses used by these groups as launch points for operations toward Jordanian territory, and that they were targeted and destroyed.
The Jordanian Armed Forces said the strikes were carried out with the highest levels of precision to prevent narcotics and weapons from reaching Jordanian territory.
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