Airstrike on southern Syria hits drug factory: Report

According to Syrian opposition activists, an airstrike on Thursday damaged a drug production factory in southern Syria close to the Jordanian border. Fortunately, there were no reports of injuries.

Syrian opposition activists stated that the Jordanian air force was believed to have been responsible for the attack. Over the previous few weeks, numerous drones carrying drugs were shot down after entering Jordan from Syria, according to Syria's official media.

The Captagon industry, Syria's most valuable export industry, has been a huge concern for Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and other Arab states. 

According to reports, hundreds of millions of pills have been smuggled through the Syrian border in recent years. Daraa-based opposition activist Ahmad al-Masalmeh said that smugglers usually prepare and package illegal drugs before smuggling them across the southern border into Jordan, a country in the Middle East. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a United Kingdom-based information office that documents human rights abuses in Syria, said that the factory was destroyed because of the airstrike. The pro-government Sham FM radio station claimed that the airstrike hit a farm that caused damage. The FM station did not report any injuries or deaths. Reportedly, the airstrike was over Um Rumman in As-Suwayda Governorate, located in Syria. Stones were also thrown in the Druze-majority southern Sweida province.

Earlier this year, a famous Syrian drug lord and his family were killed in an airstrike over a town in the southern Sweida region. Activists suspected that the Jordanians were responsible for the airstrike.

Jordan has never confirmed nor denied the alleged airstrike. Jordan pledged to put efforts to combat smuggling across the border. 

The United States, United Kingdom, and other Western countries have accused Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, and associates of being a part of the Captagon production. 

The United States and the United Kingdom also imposed sanctions on relatives of Assad, Lebanese drug lynchpins, and other associates in Syria over their involvement in Captagon production.