Yemen’s northern governorate of Al Jawf, a region of 590,000 people struggling with extreme shortages of food and water, has become one of the country’s largest drug-transit corridors, according to local and security officials. Now in its 11th year of civil war, Yemen remains fractured between Houthi-controlled territories in the north and the internationally recognised government in the south — a division that traffickers exploit with ease.
Officials say the narcotics trade, particularly Captagon, has “exploded” as armed groups, criminal networks and impoverished communities compete for profits. With Yemen’s strategic location on the Red Sea and Bab Al Mandeb strait, coupled with weak border enforcement and deepening poverty, the country is increasingly used to move drugs to lucrative Gulf markets. Experts warn the trade now transcends front lines and authorities.
