Shafaq News- Baghdad/ Damascus

Iraq’s Interior Ministry on Wednesday announced a cross-border anti-drug operation in Syria’s Homs province that led to the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of 400,000 Captagon pills.

In a statement, the ministry said the raid was conducted in coordination with Syrian anti-narcotics authorities and targeted an international trafficking network preparing the pills for smuggling across the border.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has identified Iraq’s western corridor, including Al-Anbar province and the Al-Qaim crossing with Syria, as a key transit route for Captagon flowing into Iraqi cities and onward to Gulf markets. UNODC data show Iraq’s Captagon seizures surged by nearly 3,380% between 2019 and 2023.

Earlier this month, Iraqi authorities announced a separate operation in Syria that resulted in the seizure of 200,000 Captagon pills. Interior Ministry figures indicate security forces have dismantled 1,201 trafficking networks over the past three years, including 171 international groups, and confiscated more than 14 tons of narcotics nationwide.

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