Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi security forces arrested 12 suspected drug dealers in Baghdad during a series of intelligence-led operations, the Military Intelligence Directorate reported on Wednesday.

According to a statement, forces set up surprise checkpoints across the capital over the past week, leading to the detention of the suspects and the seizure of various narcotic substances.

Drug trafficking has surged across Iraq in recent years, with the Interior Ministry warning that the country is increasingly becoming both a consumer market and a transit corridor for regional smuggling networks. Earlier this month, Iraq’s Directorate of Narcotics Control in Maysan province dismantled an international drug trafficking network operated by two foreign nationals in southern Iraq.

Since the beginning of 2026, Iraq has seized more than 1.697 tons of narcotics, while courts have handed down 42 death sentences and 357 life imprisonment rulings against convicted traffickers.

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