After US President Joe Biden signed on December 23 the US national defense budget for 2023, including the Interagency Strategy to Disrupt Narcotics Production and Trafficking in Syria, Jordanians have been left wondering: how will this step impact the Kingdom?
Geopolitical expert Amer Al-Sabaileh told Khaberni that the new US law aims to confront the drug trade in Syria, most notably the trade of the illegal substance, Captagon.
Sabaileh also affirmed that the strategy will affect neighboring countries that experience drug smuggling activities coming from Syria, including Jordan.
Smuggling operations across Jordan’s borders “can only be reduced by eliminating the sources of the illegal drugs within Syria”.
The implementation of the law will involve direct operations, led either by the US or its partners, aimed at putting an end to the drug trade, he said, predicting that Jordan will be “directly affected”, either as a US partner or through efforts to halt drug activity within the Kingdom itself.
Jordan will benefit from the US law, the expert said, highlighting the importance of American support — including technologies, resources, strategies, and capacities — and US supervision in eliminating the drug trade at its source.
“It may be the first real breakthrough in combatting this activity,” he said.
Sabaileh expressed the opinion that smuggling operations across Jordan’s borders “can only be reduced by eliminating the sources of the illegal drugs within Syria”.
In addition, the fight against drug trafficking requires an internal dimension in Jordan, where drugs are “abundant and cheap”, he said.
Source : Jordan News
