Shafaq News- Baghdad/Basra
Iraqi security forces arrested a suspected drug dealer after an armed confrontation during a raid on his home in southern Baghdad on Thursday, as authorities confirmed the dismantling of a trafficking network in the capital and the destruction of narcotics in Basra.
A security source told Shafaq News that the suspect exchanged fire with security officers who stormed his residence in al-Doura. He was wounded and taken into custody in accordance with legal procedures.
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Separately, the General Directorate for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Affairs at Iraq’s Interior Ministry said it had dismantled a “major” drug trafficking network in Baghdad, and seized five kilograms of narcotic substances.
In southern Iraq, Basra Health Director Abbas al-Tamimi said authorities destroyed more than 44 tons of solid narcotic substances in the province, the fifth destruction operation conducted in Basra under the government’s anti-drug program.
Al-Tamimi told Shafaq News that the quantities destroyed included approximately 44,208,300 kilograms of solid narcotics, 91,292 narcotic pills, 5,522 narcotic drops, and 2,400 containers of liquid narcotic substances.
The materials were incinerated in a designated facility, followed by chemical testing to confirm that their narcotic properties had been neutralized, he added.
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Drug trafficking has increased across Iraq in recent years, with officials warning that the country is becoming both a consumer market and a transit route for regional smuggling networks. A 2025 report by the Iraqi Strategic Center for Human Rights documented the dismantling of 230 trafficking networks in recent months, including 27 international groups.
Over the past three years, Iraqi authorities have detained 43,000 individuals for drug trafficking and possession, confiscating more than 28 tons of narcotics and psychotropic substances, along with millions of illicit and hallucinogenic pills.
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