According to data published by the Saudi government, attempts to smuggle narcotics from Syrian territory through the Al Haditha border crossing have increased since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government and the rise to power of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham under the leadership of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

Since December 2024, Syria’s public finances, economy, and import-export activities have reportedly been under the control of Jamal al-Sharaa, Hazem al-Sharaa and Maher al-Sharaa, brothers of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

Saudi state-affiliated media had previously accused Bashar al-Assad personally of facilitating the flow of narcotics into Saudi Arabia via the Al Haditha crossing through Jordan. However, current Saudi government data indicate that the movement of narcotics from Syrian territory has not ceased following the change in government and has instead continued at an increasing rate.

Examples of smuggling attempts originating from Syria and intercepted at Al Haditha, according to Saudi government announcements, include:

▪️ 12 June 2026 – 45,000 amphetamine pills.

▪️ 15 May 2026 – 426,000 amphetamine pills.

▪️ 24 April 2026 – 154,000 amphetamine pills.

▪️ 30 January 2026 – 270,000 amphetamine pills.

These cases are cited as examples rather than a comprehensive list. According to the reported information, all of the shipments were concealed within goods that had received export authorisation from officials responsible for economic affairs under Syria’s current administration.

By comparison, publicly announced interdictions during the final years of Bashar al-Assad’s rule were reportedly limited to roughly one announcement every four months.

It should be noted that no independent dataset has been identified comparing drug-smuggling interdictions from Syrian territory into Saudi Arabia before and after the fall of Assad. This report therefore relies exclusively on figures and announcements published by the Saudi government.