AMMAN — 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?
اضافة اعلان
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.
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