Shafaq News– Kirkuk/ Basra

Iraqi security forces seized more than 50 kilograms of narcotics and arrested two international traffickers in multiple provinces, the Ministry of Interior announced on Monday.

In a statement, the ministry said two raids targeting trafficking networks resulted in the confiscation of three kilograms of drugs in Diyala Province and 48 kilograms in Basra.

Earlier today, a security source told Shafaq News that a SWAT officer from the Kirkuk Police Command was killed and several personnel wounded during an armed confrontation with drug suspects. The ministry later confirmed that officers came under fire after reaching a traffickers’ hideout in the Darman area.

The operation also secured the release of a family held on a farm. One suspect was captured, another killed, and weapons, hand grenades, explosives, and narcotics were recovered at the scene.

Drug trafficking has surged across Iraq in recent years, with officials warning that the country is increasingly serving as both a consumer market and a transit point for regional smuggling. 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, 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.

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