Jordan seizes nine automatic firearms smuggled in by hot air balloon
Jordanian security forces have seized nine automatic firearms smuggled into the country by hot air balloon, after the balloons carrying them came down in the southern governorate of Karak.
Jordan’s Public Security Directorate announced the seizure on Saturday, 31 October. The weapons were found in a bag carried by the balloons, along with GPS devices, according to Xinhua. The directorate said its specialist forces tracked down where the balloons had landed and recovered the load.
Officials have not said where the balloons were launched from or who sent them. Search and investigation operations are under way to identify those involved and their criminal connections, Jordanian media reported.
The seizure is the latest sign of a new smuggling tactic on Jordan’s borders. Earlier in the same week, the Jordan Armed Forces said they had foiled ten attempts to smuggle drugs across the country’s northern and western fronts in a single morning, nine of them using electronically guided balloons carrying more than 1.5 million narcotic pills. Balloons need no pilot and can carry a small load across a border without a vehicle, which makes them a low-tech way to move contraband.
Why it matters
The find matters because the cargo was weapons, not drugs. Nine automatic firearms in the hands of a criminal group would be a direct security threat, and the GPS devices found with the guns point to a planned drop that someone was meant to collect. Jordan sits between Syria, Iraq, Israel and the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia, and its security forces have spent years fighting smuggling across its borders. A method that works for drugs can work for guns too.
What happens next
Investigators are now trying to trace who launched the balloons and who was meant to pick up the bag. The directorate has not announced any arrests. Jordan’s security forces are likely to keep a closer watch on low-flying objects near the border, and further seizures — or a statement about who was behind this one — would show whether this was a one-off or part of a regular route.
This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.
Sources
- https://world.einnews.com/country/jordan?page=5 (Xinhua, via EIN Presswire, 31 October 2026)
- https://www.voiceofemirates.com/en/news/2026/10/31/jordanian-public-security-foils-smuggling-of-firearms-via-thermal-balloons-in-karak/ (Voice of Emirates, 31 October 2026)
- https://www.jaf.mil.jo/NewsViewEn.aspx?NewsId=60875 (Jordan Armed Forces, 30 October 2026)
