Syria foils balloon smuggling of 44 kg of hashish to Jordan
Syria's anti-narcotics directorate said it foiled an attempt to fly 44 kg of hashish and 218,000 captagon pills from the countryside of Sweida governorate to Jordan on guided balloons. The operation was announced on 7 September 2026, and no one was reported arrested.
Syria’s anti-narcotics directorate said it foiled an attempt to smuggle a large
consignment of drugs from the countryside of Sweida governorate to Jordan.[1][2]The shipment was to cross the border on guided balloons.[3][2]Sabq described the
method as unusual.[3]The attempt was foiled on 7 September 2026, according to
data from the Syrian Interior Ministry.[4]
Officers seized44 kg of hashish and 218,000 captagon pills.[3][2]SANA, the
state news agency, reported the 44 kg hashish seizure.[1]It said GPS devices
were seized with the drugs.[1][2]Sabq reported that the devices were used to
steer and track the shipment during the smuggling attempt.[3]
The directorate blamed groups it described as outside the law in the
governorate’s countryside.[4]
Sweida governorate lies on Syria’s border with Jordan.[4]The Interior
Ministry’s data record several separate anti-smuggling operations in the
governorate.[4]Smugglers there have used aerial methods to move drugs across
the border alongside traditional land routes.[4]
Photos and video
Lead photograph published by SANA with the anti-narcotics directorate's announcement of the foiled balloon smuggling attempt from Sweida to Jordan. Photo: SANAPhoto details
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Source: SANA – Syrian Arab News AgencyOne of the photographs SANA published with the report on the foiled balloon smuggling attempt from Sweida to Jordan. Photo: SANAPhoto details
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Source: SANA – Syrian Arab News AgencyOne of the photographs SANA published with the report on the foiled balloon smuggling attempt from Sweida to Jordan. Photo: SANAPhoto details
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Source: SANA – Syrian Arab News AgencyOne of the photographs SANA published with the report on the foiled balloon smuggling attempt from Sweida to Jordan. Photo: SANAPhoto details
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Source: SANA – Syrian Arab News AgencyOne of the photographs SANA published with the report on the foiled balloon smuggling attempt from Sweida to Jordan. Photo: SANAPhoto details
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Source: SANA – Syrian Arab News AgencyOne of the photographs SANA published with the report on the foiled balloon smuggling attempt from Sweida to Jordan. Photo: SANAPhoto details
No arrests, charges or court outcome were reported, and the directorate named no suspects.
The announcements gave no value for the 44 kg of hashish or the 218,000 captagon pills, and did not say where in the Sweida countryside the consignment was intercepted or whether the balloons had been launched.
The same article reports separate events that are not covered here: the 12 August balloon launch and the 29 August seizure in Sweida, a 22 October balloon attempt in Daraa, Jordanian airstrikes on southern Syria on 26 October that killed seven civilians, and a 30 October border infiltration.
Sabq's account repeats the directorate's statement and adds that the GPS devices were used to guide the shipment; no independent account of the interception itself was found.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in سانا (SANA): No arrests were announced and no suspects were named.
Not added to syria-sweida-138kg-hashish-seizure-2026, as its quotation was not found in الحق والضلال: It said officers seized and confiscated 138 kg of hashish and 382,000 narcotic pills.
Syrian border guards stopped a drug shipment from Lebanon at Sarghaya in the Damascus countryside, and the smugglers opened fire before fleeing back across the border, Syria's Defence Ministry said. The force seized 280 kilograms of hashish and 28,000 Captagon pills, but reported no arrests.
Syrian customs officers seized 2,600 grams of hashish hidden inside a loudspeaker at the Qamar border crossing with Lebanon during routine luggage checks. The operation also netted 17 grams of heroin, and customs filed a violation report while pledging tighter border surveillance.
Syria's Anti-Narcotics Department said 157 October operations dismantled 30 domestic trafficking networks and seized 582 kg of hashish. The monthly tally also listed Captagon, narcotic pills and crystal meth as separate non-cannabis seizures.
Aleppo anti-narcotics officers said several operations dismantled drug networks and led to arrests among their members. The authorities listed 9.571 kg of hashish and 21 g of marijuana among the seizures, alongside pills and a handgun.
