Mideast fights drugs in earnest

Authorities in the Middle East continue to battle drug traffickers to stamp out illicit narcotics. 

Jordan has been at the forefront of fighting drug smuggling into the Kingdom, pressing ahead with a campaign early in 2022.

And as a result, Jordan border patrol forces on Sunday prevented an attempt to smuggle in large amounts of drugs through the Jordan-Syria border. At least 181 palm-sized sheets of hashish and 179,000 narcotic pills were seized.

The smugglers were then pushed back, away from the Jordanian frontier.

 A military source said the Jordanian armed forces, in coordination with the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND), are working to stop drugs smuggling into the country, which used to be a transit point for dugs shipped from Syria and Lebanon into Gulf Arab states.

Rapid response patrols applied the rules of engagement, injuring several smugglers and forcing the others to retreat, the source told the Jordan Times.

Meanwhile, a drug-related story is developing in Kuwait, where the government is busily fighting the narcotics problem.

Governor of Al-Ahmadi Sheikh Fawaz Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah spoke about the necessity of launching preemptive awareness campaigns for the overall state efforts to tackle the evil of narcotics.

He spoke Sunday at the opening of an awareness exhibition against drugs in the Ahmadi educational district, affirming that the event is in line with the Kuwaiti government’s efforts to battle drug addiction and narcotics.