The State Security Court said it unanimously issued a final ruling against the defendant, finding him guilty of assaulting law enforcement personnel tasked with enforcing narcotics laws, resulting in the deaths of three officers and injuries to another.

According to the court’s statement, the accused was convicted on multiple charges related to the attack and received the harshest penalty available under Jordanian law, a sentence of capital punishment.

The case stems from a March 18 security operation conducted by Jordan’s Anti-Narcotics Department. During the raid, three officers were killed and a fourth was wounded before authorities arrested the suspect and seized quantities of drugs and weapons, according to the Public Security Directorate.

While Jordan’s legal system continues to permit capital punishment, executions have effectively been suspended for years. The last known executions were carried out in 2017, when authorities hanged 15 convicted prisoners, including 10 found guilty of terrorism-related offenses.

The ruling comes as Jordan faces mounting challenges linked to drug trafficking and cross-border smuggling. Authorities have significantly increased enforcement efforts in recent years amid concerns over the kingdom’s role as a transit route for narcotics destined for regional markets.

Jordanian officials say the vast majority of drugs seized within the country are intended for smuggling beyond its borders rather than domestic consumption. Government figures show that security agencies arrested more than 38,000 individuals last year in over 25,000 cases involving drug use, trafficking and smuggling.

Security forces have also stepped up operations along Jordan’s lengthy frontier with Syria, where the military regularly reports intercepting attempts to smuggle narcotics, particularly captagon pills, into or through the kingdom.

Captagon trafficking expanded significantly during the Syrian conflict and became one of the region’s most lucrative illicit trades during the rule of former Syrian president Bashar Assad. Jordan has repeatedly cited drug smuggling as a major national security concern and has intensified cooperation between military and law enforcement agencies to curb the flow of narcotics.

The court’s decision reflects the increasingly hard-line approach adopted by Jordanian authorities toward drug-related crimes, particularly cases involving violence against security personnel engaged in counter-narcotics operations.

The investigation focuses on Operation Southern Spear, a campaign launched by the administration of US President Donald Trump in September 2025 targeting boats Washington alleges are linked to narcotics trafficking networks operating from Latin America.

According to reports, the Pentagon review will examine whether the US military followed established operational and legal procedures under the Joint Targeting Cycle, the framework governing the planning and execution of military strikes.

“The scope of this evaluation includes the joint process for targeted vessels in the US Southern Command area of responsibility as part of Operation Southern Spear,” the Pentagon inspector general’s office said in a memorandum cited by Bloomberg.

The review will be conducted at the Pentagon and at the headquarters of United States Southern Command in Florida, according to the memorandum dated May 11.

The military campaign has drawn criticism from legal experts and human rights organizations, which argue the strikes may constitute extrajudicial killings because the targeted vessels allegedly did not pose an imminent threat to the United States.

Critics have also questioned whether the administration has provided sufficient evidence demonstrating that the vessels destroyed during the operations were actively involved in drug trafficking.
At least 192 people have reportedly been killed since the start of the operation, according to media accounts cited in the reports.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has defended the campaign, describing the operation as part of a broader war against what the administration terms “narco-terrorists.” Hegseth previously said the operation had been so aggressive that potential maritime targets had become increasingly difficult to locate.

The strikes represent a significant shift in US counter-narcotics strategy. Historically, American anti-drug operations in the region have focused on intercepting vessels, seizing narcotics shipments and arresting suspects rather than conducting lethal military attacks at sea.

The growing scrutiny comes as the Trump administration continues expanding military involvement in transnational security operations across Latin America and the Caribbean.