Jordan: Smugglers with large amounts of drugs killed at Syria border

Four people have been killed in an attempt to smuggle large amounts of drugs from Syria to Jordan.

Some smugglers were also wounded while others escaped by going back to Syria, Jordan's armed forces said on Sunday.

They did not specify who killed or wounded the people involved.

Jordan is both a destination and a main transit route to the oil-rich Gulf countries for Syrian-made cheap amphetamine drug known as Captagon, also dubbed as poor-man cocaine.

War-torn Syria has become the region's main production site for a multi-billion dollar trade also destined for Iraq and Europe.

Bashar al Assad regime denies involvement in drug making and smuggling.

READ MORE: Can Arab rapprochement with Syria help contain the regime’s narcostate?

'Iron fist'

In January, Jordanian soldiers killed at least 27 armed smugglers and wounded others as they crossed the border.

The army had found large quantities of drugs - most commonly Captagon - hidden in Syrian trucks passing through Jordan's main border crossing to the Gulf region.

Back then, the military said that it "will strike with an iron fist and deal with force and firmness with any infiltration or smuggling attempts to protect the borders.”

The kingdom's army has toughened its rules of engagement with smugglers.

READ MORE: Jordanian military kills dozens of smugglers at border with Syria