Shafaq News- Dhi Qar/ Najaf

Criminal courts in Iraq’s Dhi Qar and Najaf provinces on Wednesday sentenced four people convicted of drug trafficking to prison terms ranging from six years to life, a security source told Shafaq News.

In Dhi Qar, two traffickers received six years each under Article 28 of Iraq’s Anti-Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law No. 50 of 2017. The Najaf court handed one defendant a life term and another eight years under Articles 27 and 28.

Earlier this month, Iraq’s Central Criminal Court imposed the death penalty on three traffickers caught with 140 kilograms of methamphetamine and caffeine.

Iraqi authorities confiscated 16.8 tons of narcotics between 2023 and July 2026, with courts issuing 380 death sentences, 150 life terms, and 190 international arrest warrants in trafficking cases. In the first half of this year alone, security agencies dismantled 378 networks, including 59 operating internationally, and seized more than 1,977 kilograms of drugs.

Read more: The Smuggler's Almanac: Iraq's war against narco-innovation