politicodiary

  The Black desert, a forbidding plateau covered with volcanic rock that stretches between Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia has few guests – Drug Smugglers and Shepherds. It is only these two categories of people who navigate steep slopes, carrying drugs from Assad regime territory in Syria into Arab Peninsula. This is a rugged 50,000 square kilometre desert which serves the booming trade in Captagon. There is a sharp increase in the drug trafficking from Syria this year, says Arab security officials, helping to turn smuggling into a major component of the geo-political struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran.  As per local officials, drug trade is growing due to the high profitability to businessman close to the government in the Syrian regime and its allies –including Hezbollah and Iran-backed militias. “The problem is that there is no security partner on the other side of the Jordanian border,” a senior Jordanian official said on condition of anonymity. “In such rugged terrain...