Shafaq News – Dhi Qar

A criminal court in Dhi Qar handed down prison terms of 12 and 15 years to two drug traffickers convicted of selling crystal meth in central Nasiriyah, a security source told Shafaq News on Thursday.

Each convict was also fined 15 million dinars (about $11.5K).

According to the Iraqi Strategic Center for Human Rights, authorities dismantled 230 drug networks, including 27 international rings, as of late September. The center said 43,000 traffickers and possessors had been arrested over the past three years, including 150 foreign nationals, noting that more than 28 tons of narcotics and millions of illicit pills had been seized, with drug-use rates reaching 17% in impoverished areas and the highest addiction levels recorded among people aged 15 to 30.

Read more: Iraq fights back against synthetic drug flood engulfing the Middle East