By Samah Abdul Fattah | 2024-10-21

Militias affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are continuing to manufacture and smuggle narcotics across the region, increasing an already volatile security situation, analysts say.

Despite regional tensions, Lebanese Hizbullah has continued to manufacture and smuggle illegal drugs, Jordanian political researcher Raed Khalil told Al-Fassel.

"The pace of these operations has picked up significantly," he said, adding that according to Jordanian security authorities, drug-smuggling operations are thwarted "at least once a week."

Khalil noted "the increased use of drones to transport narcotic pills into Jordan, which implicates Hizbullah and the Syrian [regime] authorities."

The IRGC and its affiliates are a "malignant cancer" and must be eliminated, he said, "because in addition to spreading death and destruction, they continue to poison minds through the trade of narcotic substances and pills."

Jordan's border security and counter-narcotics authorities have arrested a large number of drug dealers during frequent raids in the desert areas of Mafraq province, Khalil said.

A number of these dealers are "dangerous and have a long history of crimes and involvement in smuggling operations," he said.

Funding Hizbullah

The IRGC relies on the illicit drug trade as "a fundamental pillar of its economy," Iranian affairs specialist Sheyar Turko told Al-Fassel.

It uses the proceeds of the drug trade to control the leaders and elements of its various affiliates and to recruit new members, he said.

Drug-smuggling operations launched from Syria "are under the complete and total supervision of Lebanese Hizbullah," he explained.

Hizbullah "has complete control over the centers for manufacturing narcotic pills that it has established in Syria, many of which were transferred from Lebanon, where the party began manufacturing operations many years ago," he said.

"Hizbullah considers these operations to be a primary source of its funding," Turko added, stressing the need to stop drug smuggling in order to protect civilians and establish security in the region.