AMMAN — According to several media
outlets, Marai Ruwaishid Al-Ramathan, nicknamed Abu Hamza, considered the most
notorious drug dealer and smuggler in southern
Syria and the main arm of the
Lebanese militia Hezbollah in transporting drugs into Jordan, was arrested last
week in As-Suwayda governorate, south of Syria.
اضافة اعلان
Media sources said that Ramathan was arrested by Abu
Shuaib Muhammad Ghalia, the deputy head of the Syrian regime’s Military
Security Detachment in the city of Salkhad, south of As-Suwayda, who was
considered one of his closest associates for long periods of time. He was
handed over to the Military Security Department of the Syrian government in
Damascus.
The handing over of Ramathan by Abu Shuaib was part
of a major deal to get the latter clear of charges related to the illegal drug
trade.
Syrian activist Hamza Al-Maroufi confirmed that Abu
Shuaib was interrogated a few days ago on charges of drug dealing and
trafficking across the border with Jordan, which led to Ramathan’s arrest.
According to him, the military security is trying to
“present a clean face of the regime” to the world, specifically to Jordan, but
the arrest could also be part of a power struggle over spoils and positions
within the Syrian security branches, which have become totally dependent on
drug smuggling and trafficking.
Maroufi added that this struggle may have been the
reason the head of the Military Security branch in the south, Brig. Genl Louay
Al-Ali, traveled from his headquarters in Daraa to Damascus, to meet with the
head of the department, Maj. Gen Kifah Al-Mulhim, at a time information was
leaked about disputes between the two men competing for power. This, he added,
led to the arrest of Ramathan and his transfer directly to Damascus.
Ramathan, who hails from the village of Al-Sha’ab in
the far southeast of As-Suwayda governorate, is considered one of the most
important drug dealers, and the foremost smuggler of drugs from Syria to
Jordan, according to numerous media reports that spoke of his direct
relationship with the Syrian Military Security and his coordination with drug
gangs in the south that are affiliated with
Hezbollah, including the Raji
Falhout gang, against which the people of As-Suwayda revolted last July, and
the Nasser Al-Saadi gang stationed in Salkhad.
Ramathan is known for his direct relationship with
Hezbollah agents and Iranian forces in southern Syria; media reports point to
his previous partnership with a drug dealer called Ahmed Jaafar Abu Yassin, who
was killed in Salkhad in 2018.
Ramathan is also considered one of the most
notorious gangsters associated with security agents in southern Syria.
His drug-smuggling activities caused a major crisis
on the Jordanian-Syrian border, prompting Jordan to reinforce its forces at its
northern border. Jordan’s armed forces constantly clash with drug smugglers;
the army announced that it killed and injured many smugglers in the past few
months, and confiscated large quantities of drugs.
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