Sunday, the Jordanian army reported the deaths of four drug smugglers along the Jordanian-Syrian border.

The army reported that border guards attacked the armed smugglers after entering the country from Syria.

"Fast-response mechanized units dealt with these groups," according to the statement.

According to the army, 637 000 Captagon pills were seized.

The Jordanian border is the leading transit site for Captagon, a derivative of amphetamine, one of the most extensively used recreational drugs in the region.

Most of the tablets are produced in Assad regime-held areas of Syria, where pro-Iranian forces participate in their production.

According to security services, the majority are transported into wealthy Arab countries for sale.

However, some are in use in Jordan. This year, police in Amman discovered a production and export ring for Captagon in the monarchy.

According to Jordanian security authorities, billions of dollars worth of tablets are smuggled across the Syrian-Jordanian border.

In the past three years, Jordan has vied for influence along the border, which has become a geopolitical battleground.

The Captagon trade has led to current tensions in Jordan and Saudi Arabia's relations.

Saudi authorities saw drug smuggling as part of an Iranian effort to undermine their country's national security, and the kingdom has rebuffed regional Arab attempts to rehabilitate the Assad administration.

The significant increase in Captagon smuggling over the past two years influenced Jordan's policy of supporting Bashar Al Assad's government in the hopes of getting regime cooperation to combat the drug trade.

Moscow, which maintains troops in Syrian regime areas close to the Jordanian border, sponsored negotiations between Amman and Damascus late last year. The United States, Jordan's primary funder and ally sent mixed messages.

Jordan backed the 2005 Russian intervention that effectively neutralized the Syrian opposition's threat to seize President Assad's seat of power in Damascus.

Russian forces also controlled territories near the Mediterranean coast inhabited by his Alawite minority, which has dominated the Syrian government for the past 59 years.

During a visit to the United States this month, King Abdullah of Jordan told the Hoover Institute that he expected Russia's focus on its invasion of Ukraine to shift the balance of power in Syria in favor of Iran. Iran supports a variety of militias in Syria, which Hezbollah often supervises.

"This void will be filled by the Iranians and their proxies, so we are unfortunately facing an escalation of problems on our borders," remarked the king.

Regular border attacks are occurring, and we know who is responsible.